HCM City generates nearly 2,000 tonnes of construction waste each day, but only a minimal amount is collected and treated while the remaining amount is dumped or freely transferred without official oversight, according to the city’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

Mud and construction waste are discharged illegally in residental areas in HCM City. 

The quantity of construction waste has soared in recent years because of the number of building projects in the city.

Construction waste comes from land excavation and formation, demolition activities, and public work projects.

According to Nguyen Thi Thanh My, deputy director of the department, the collection and treatment of construction waste is divided into many different types, including debris, rubble, earth, concrete, timber and mixed site-clearance materials.

Only a small amount of construction waste can be recycled and used as sand, concrete, brick or stone.

Other types of wastes such as gypsum are transferred to a treatment plant operated by Sài Gòn Green Biotech Co., Ltd for processing. The remaining is dumped in empty land areas or coastal areas.

Huynh Minh Nhut, director of the HCM City Urban Environment One Member Ltd Company, said the company treated about 1,250 tonnes of construction waste a day, mostly from projects which have collection and processing contracts.

The rest of the rubbish was discharged into the environment, or collected and freely transferred by households and businesses, he said.

Representatives of many businesses have said that the city needs a construction waste treatment plant.

My said the city’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment was working with the Department of Construction to provide assistance to the city’s People’s Committee on construction waste management.

Waste management must be the responsibility of district authorities, who should strengthen inspection and strictly penalise violators, she added.

She said that efforts to control waste had not been effective due to a lack of human resources and materials.

However, the HCM City Urban Environment One Member Ltd Company has applied technology in the collection, transportation, sorting, recycling and reuse of construction waste.

The company has asked for approval from the city’s People’s Committee to build a construction waste treatment plant at the Phuoc Hiep solid waste treatment complex in Cu Chi District.

The company plans to finance the project with its own capital instead of from city budget funds.

Such a plant will allow businesses to adhere to regulations on environmental protection, the company noted.

The city also plans to stop operation of a hazardous waste treatment plant at the Đông Thành dumpsite in Hóc Môn District and move it to the Phuoc Hiep solid waste treatment complex by the end of this year. — VNS