VietNamNet Bridge - Formosa’s behavior of illegally dumping solid waste has been discovered, but many other companies are escaping state management.

Formosa, the investor from Taiwan, after causing unprecedented environmental catastrophe on the sea which led to mass fish deaths in the central coastal provinces, was discovered dumping large volumes of solid waste in many places.

Hazardous solid waste of the company has been found in Song Tri Ward, a dumping ground in Ky Tan commune of Ky Anh district in Ha Tinh province, and on a farm of the director of Ky Anh Town Urban Environment Company.

Formosa’s behavior in Vietnam has caused a public outcry. On forums, people have called on agencies to revoke the investment license granted to the Taiwanese investor and punish state officials who granted the license. 

According to MPI, in 2010, the industrial zones in Vietnam produced 8,000 tons of solid waste every day, or 3 million tons a year.

Phan Huu Thang, an expert on foreign direct investment (FDI), said that Formosa was Vietnam’s "biggest failure in FDI attraction and management".

Tinnhanh has quoted its sources saying that with capacity of 15 million tons a year, the total volume of hazardous waste Formosa Ha Tinh produces may reach 8.787 million tons a year. 

This means that industrial solid waste and hazardous waste the company alone produces is 1.13 times higher than Vietnam’s total waste of this kind. 

Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Tran Hong Ha, emphasizing that the dumping of solid waste was ‘intentional’ and ‘serious’, said that Formosa must bear responsibility for this.

However, experts pointed out that Formosa is not the only polluting source in Vietnam.

The 2011 Report on the Nation’s Environment with focus on solid waste showed that the waste of this kind has increased by 10 percent year after year. About 46 percent of solid waste was created in urban areas, 17 percent in industrial production and the remaining from rural areas.

At that time, the report predicted there would be changes in the structure by 2015:  urban solid and industrial waste would account for 50.8 and 22.1 percent, respectively.

According to MPI, in 2010, the industrial zones in Vietnam produced 8,000 tons of solid waste every day, or 3 million tons a year. 

In Vietnam in general, in 2005-2006, every hectare of leased land generated 134 tons of solid waste each year. The figure rose to 204 tons, or 50 percent, by 2008-2009.

At that time, there were only 170 operational industrial zones. Meanwhile, 206 industrial zones had become operational by December 2015. 

Therefore, experts have every reason to believe that the waste discharge rate from industrial zones has exceeded the 22 percent and 6-7.5 million a year levels that the 2011 Report predicted.


DNSG