By 2015, Vietnam will produce 44 million tonnes of solid waste per
year, which causes water, air and land pollution and threatens community
health.
The figure was released by the Ministry of Natural Resources and
Environment in a report on preparations for a “National target programme
to handle and improve environmental pollution during the 2011-2015
period”.
The ministry forecast that the figure will
increase to 68 million tonnes in 2020 and 91 million tonnes in 2025, 2-3
times higher than current figures.
Only 70 percent of
solid waste is collected in urban areas and the remaining waste is
affecting urban landscapes, taking up large areas of land and cannot be
recycled, the ministry said.
According to statistics
collected in 2008 alone, the country produced a total of 28 million
tonnes of solid waste, which was mainly buried at waste disposal sites.
Meanwhile, each urban area in Vietnam has only one or two waste
dumps and 85 percent of urban areas apply waste disposal measures that
fail to meet hygienic standards.
Minister of Natural
Resources and Environment Bui Cach Tuyen underlined the need to focus on
financial sources for treating pollution and rehabilitating the
environment in areas that are poisoned by unhygienic waste dumps.
Tuyen also proposed building a treatment centre for hazardous waste as a
measure to improve the environment in seriously polluted areas as part
of the national programme./.
