'Difficult' in handling household waste

(Baonghean) - Along with the socio-economic development, there is an increase in human demand for goods and raw materials, leading to an increase in the amount of household waste generated. However, the treatment is facing many difficulties and problems...

Worrying reality

It can be affirmed that the collection of household waste has recently received attention from many localities, gradually creating a change in awareness among people, especially in rural areas.

However, the current problem is the lack of effective measures in waste treatment, ensuring the environment. Because currently, localities only stop at collecting and gathering at a designated location without any treatment measures, causing overload at points and landfills, seriously affecting the environment.

Garbage is collected without being sorted in Vinh city.

"Witnessing" at the Dung town landfill (Thanh Chuong), witnessing garbage being dumped from the beginning of the street (intersection with the road from Dung town to Intimex Cassava Starch Factory) all the way to the landfill.

Even though I wore two layers of masks, the stench from the bags and piles of garbage spilled on the road to the landfill, which is also the road to the town cemetery, was overwhelming.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Van, Block 2, Dung town, indignantly said: "The garbage is spilled all over the road leading to the cemetery. It's so miserable because of the stench from the garbage, and the flies buzzing around people."

Acknowledging this situation, Mr. Nguyen Van Vinh - Chairman of Dung Town People's Committee, said: The town's current landfill was "planned" since 2002. At that time, the town's population was only about 3,000 people and the amount of waste generated was also small; but now the town's population has reached nearly 10,000 people, the living needs of the people are also increasing, increasing the amount of waste generated.

Meanwhile, this landfill is simply a collection site collected from residential areas without any form of treatment. Therefore, over time, the amount of garbage accumulated at the landfill increases, leading to overload.

Mr. Nguyen Van Vinh added: In recent years, the town has focused on allocating budget for environmental protection, but due to limited funds, it is only enough for activities of collecting and transporting garbage from households to the landfill. The district supports about 200 million VND/year to contract with the Environmental Company to compress and transport garbage to the Nghi Yen Waste Treatment Complex for treatment.

However, this treatment only ensures 2/3 of the amount of waste generated each year, not including old waste. According to the inventory data in mid-December, there are still about 1,700 m3 of waste left at this landfill.

Similarly, Ngoc Son landfill (Ngoc Son commune) - the common garbage collection place of most communes and towns in Quynh Luu district - is also overloaded. Pollution from this landfill directly affects 160 households with nearly 600 people in village 5, Ngoc Son commune, including the stench and flies flying into the residential area.

In addition, due to the implementation of landfill measures, leachate has not been collected and treated but discharged directly into the environment, flowing into An Ngai dam, affecting production and threatening the health of people in Quynh Tan commune.

According to Mr. Ho Van Lap - Chairman of Ngoc Son Commune People's Committee, the district assigned this landfill to Thai Binh Nguyen Company Limited to manage and inject disinfectants and anti-fly chemicals.

However, due to the large amount of waste, it is impossible to ensure environmental hygiene. Or at the Nghi Yen Solid Waste Treatment Complex with an area of ​​46 hectares, with compaction and burial methods according to the sanitary Danish process, it is predicted that it will only be filled in about 15 years.

In recent times, the province has focused on and allocated funds to treat polluted landfills, but progress has been slow. Currently, only 3 landfills have implemented pollution treatment measures; the remaining landfills are in the process of preparing documents, plans and mobilizing funds for treatment.

Particularly at the commune level, although 431/431 communes have planned centralized landfills, their actual operation is still limited. And the general situation is that waste is collected, gathered and treated mainly by burning, without applying hygienic treatment measures.

For example, in Thanh Chuong district, 40/40 communes and towns have planned landfills, but so far only 10 communes and towns have landfills. Although they are landfills, in these 10 localities, they have only stopped at building embankments and entrance gates, and the only method of waste treatment is burning.

Need the cooperation of the whole society

Reality shows that the increasing amount of domestic waste that is not treated or treated unhygienic is one of the causes of environmental pollution, affecting public health and needs to be thoroughly addressed in the near future.

According to data from the Provincial Department of Environmental Protection, the total amount of solid waste generated in the province is about 2,081.7 tons/day. Although localities have paid attention to collection, due to limited funding, many communes have not yet established departments or units to participate in the collection of waste from households to transport it to the commune's collection points, so the amount of waste collected has not met the requirements.

In localities where waste collection is possible, waste treatment is posing many problems. The main waste treatment method applied by localities is to transport it to open landfills for dumping, burning, or burial.

The current problem is that due to the large amount of waste generated, localities implementing landfill measures do not meet requirements, causing overload.

For localities using the incineration method, there are also limitations, which is due to the characteristics of current household waste that is not classified at the source, and is mixed with many types of inorganic and organic waste, construction waste, including hazardous waste, so burning is not thorough. In general, both solutions applied by localities above do not ensure hygiene and in fact, in the past, environmental pollution from landfills still occurred, especially pollution from leachate and air pollution.

The biggest difficulty at present is that the province has not yet found a suitable and effective solution for waste treatment. Recently, the Provincial People's Committee has approved the investment policy for a pilot small-scale domestic waste incinerator for T-Tech Technology Joint Stock Company in the districts of Tuong Duong, Con Cuong, Quy Chau, Nghia Dan and Hoang Mai town. Currently, the enterprise is completing the relevant documents and procedures to proceed with the installation of the incinerator.

The province is also continuing to call for potential and experienced investors in the field of waste treatment and environmental protection to implement projects on waste treatment and recycling. According to Mr. Hoang Van Khanh - Director of Nghe An Urban Environment Company Limited, the province needs to attract projects on burning waste to generate electricity; at the same time, invest in a leachate treatment line to ensure safety before discharging into the environment.

In addition to the responsibility of the province and localities in attracting waste treatment and recycling projects, each citizen also needs to clearly see their own responsibility. Because the large amount of waste generated is primarily due to people's consumption habits of overusing plastic bags - this type of waste accounts for a large part of the domestic waste generated in households today.

On the other hand, due to the lack of habit of sorting waste at source, there are many types of decomposable waste such as animal carcasses, waste from vegetables, fruits, tree trunks, or leftover food; instead of being sorted for burial in the garden, many people pack it in sacks, tied tightly in plastic bags. If this type of waste is sorted and treated, it will reduce the amount of waste released into the environment.

Therefore, localities need to issue regulations on waste management and collection, classify waste from the source; along with that, clarify the responsibilities in waste management, collection and treatment of organizations and individuals causing emissions in order to have measures to manage, treat waste and mobilize appropriate resources.

Plum Blossom