'Hot' garbage problem in Quynh Luu

Difficult

On May 30, 2022, Nghe An Urban Environment and Construction Joint Stock Company issued Notice No. 70/MTDT stating that some units transported household waste from districts outside the permitted area to gather atNghi Yen Solid Waste Treatment Complex(Nghi Loc) is a serious breach of the signed contract.

Because according to regulations, garbage brought to the Nghi Yen Solid Waste Treatment Complex is only allowed to be brought from the following localities: Vinh City, Cua Lo Town, Nghi Loc District, and Dien Chau Town.

Garbage is strewn all over the streets in Quynh Thuan commune (Quynh Luu). Photo: Nguyen Hai

In this announcement, Nghe An Urban Environment and Construction Joint Stock Company also stated that from June 10, 2022, the Company will unilaterally terminate the contract with units that have signed the contract but do not properly implement the terms of the commitment, and cannot prove the origin of the waste collected and transported from localities permitted to gather at the Complex.

According to research, since June 10, in communes such as Quynh Hau, Quynh Doi, Son Hai, Quynh Long, Quynh Thuan (Quynh Luu), household waste has been piling up, causing environmental pollution and public outrage.

Currently, waste is temporarily released after collection units reached an agreement with the Nghi Son Waste Plant (Thanh Hoa) to "temporarily dump" some trucks. However, in the long term, this locality needs to consider building a new waste treatment area to replace the Ngoc Son landfill that has been closed.

The entrance to Ngoc Son landfill has been blocked and closed for 3 years. Photo: Tien Dong

Mr. Ho Ngoc Thai - Director of Thai Binh Nguyen Company Limited, one of the three units currently contracting with communes and towns to collect household waste in Quynh Luu district, said: Since the landfill in Ngoc Son commune closed, the unit has had to contact many locations to dump waste.

The nearest ones are in Nghia Dan and Hoang Mai Town, but due to their small capacity, while the daily volume of garbage in 33 communes and towns in Quynh Luu District is about 100 tons, it cannot be fully processed, so in recent years, the garbage has been temporarily brought to Nghi Yen Solid Waste Treatment Complex. However, after Nghe An Urban Environment and Construction Joint Stock Company announced to stop receiving garbage in areas outside the regulations, the treatment of household waste here has really come to a standstill.

Recently, because garbage was not allowed to be dumped at the Nghi Yen Solid Waste Treatment Complex (Nghi Loc), garbage in the Quynh Luu area has been backlogged, causing public outrage. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Currently, Thai Binh Nguyen Company Limited has a contract to collect garbage from 13 communes and Cau Giat town. In recent years, the amount of household waste has increased rapidly, not to mention the fact that some people lack awareness and throw away construction waste, making classification and treatment very difficult.

Mr. Ho Manh Tuan - land and environmental officer of Quynh Hau commune shared: Although it is a rural area, there is very little space for waste classification and treatment. Leftover food can be used for livestock and poultry, but for a long time, household-scale livestock farming has not developed, and waste from trees and leaves also lacks space to dry and burn, causing smoke and dust, polluting residential areas. According to the new rural planning, each district has 1-2 solid waste collection sites and each commune or cluster of communes has 1 smaller solid waste collection site, but very few localities have allocated land because if they did, they would be afraid that people would litter, so no locality wants to do it.

According to representatives of the units that are contracting to collect household waste in Quynh Luu district, people currently assume that waste treatment is the responsibility of environmental companies, so almost every family just collects all types of waste into one bag, regardless of household waste or debris, branches, and leaves, which causes the amount of waste to increase very quickly.

Currently, except for Cau Giat town, which collects once every two days, other communes collect twice a week, or even once a week. When household waste is not collected and transported according to plan, it accumulates very quickly and because it is left in the house for too long, when transported to the street, it gives off a foul smell, which is very unsanitary.

Ngoc Son landfill, after being full and causing environmental pollution, was protested by local residents who stopped allowing trucks to continue dumping there. Photo: Tien Dong

Need long term solution

In response to the Nghi Yen Solid Waste Treatment Complex stopping receiving waste from localities outside the designated area, on June 10, 2022, the People's Committee of Cau Giat town issued a document to agencies, organizations, households and individuals in the area to notify the situation and request households to self-classify waste at the source, into 2 types: inorganic waste that is difficult to decompose and organic waste that is easily decomposed into separate packages for collection by Thai Binh Nguyen Company Limited.

Similarly, in Quynh Thuan and Quynh Long communes, immediately after receiving information that Thai Binh Nguyen Company Limited would temporarily stop collecting waste, the People's Committees of the two communes issued a document announcing, propagating, and mobilizing households to self-classify and reduce waste, only bringing really necessary waste to the centralized landfill so that the company's trucks can come and collect it once a week.

People gather garbage at the alley entrance to wait for the environmental company to come and collect it. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Currently, although the garbage collected in residential areas and main roads in Quynh Luu has been temporarily cleared, in reality, the amount of garbage accumulated in residential areas is still large. In many places such as Quynh Ngoc or Son Hai, garbage is still piled up at the alleys.

According to the representative of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Quynh Luu district, the district had previously called on T-Tech Vietnam Technology Group Joint Stock Company to build a solid waste treatment plant located in Ngoc Son commune, not far from the old landfill area. The Provincial People's Committee approved the investment policy on July 20, 2018. However, due to local people's objections, the solid waste treatment plant has not yet been implemented. Currently, despite the call, no investors have approached.

Garbage from communes in Quynh Luu district is being collected at the landfill next to Thai Binh Nguyen Company Limited. Photo: Tien Dong

Regarding the suspension of receiving waste in Quynh Luu district as well as localities outside the regulated area, Mr. Pham Huu Thang - Head of the Administrative Organization Department of Nghe An Urban Environment and Construction Joint Stock Company said: Nghi Yen Solid Waste Treatment Complex is only allowed to receive waste from Vinh City, Cua Lo Town, Nghi Loc District, Dien Chau Town and surrounding areas within 30 km. According to the assigned functions and tasks, the company has signed contracts with enterprises and private units with the function of collecting and transporting waste from the above localities to receive and treat domestic waste. However, there have been cases of taking advantage of the contract to dump waste into the Complex to collect and transport waste from other localities.

Workers are sorting trash manually at the collection site. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Currently, the Complex receives about 600 tons of garbage per day and night. According to calculations, if reaching an altitude of 45m above sea level and with the current stable amount of garbage, the 8 landfills can receive and process garbage until 2045. If other localities want to dump garbage here, they must have the consent of the Provincial People's Committee and Vinh City People's Committee - Mr. Thang emphasized.

It can be seen that, in the long term, Quynh Luu needs to build a waste treatment plant, which is the key to solving the problem of domestic waste in this locality. Because dumping waste elsewhere is only a temporary solution, not to mention the high transportation and treatment costs, making businesses unable to bear it. If businesses that are implementing waste treatment contracts with communes and towns "run away", the waste problem in Quynh Luu will become even more serious.