Waste separation demands so much more
Hanoi waste collection faces challenges

A sanitation worker collected rubbish around Hoan Kiem Lake.– Photo kinhtedothi

Using a 3.5-tonne truck to collect household garbage in four inner districts of Hoan Kiem, Ba Dinh, Hai Ba Trung and Dong Da, the workers have received positive feedback from residents.

Nguyen Thu Hoai, living in Kim Ma Street, said in the past, household garbage was collected using handcarts, while her family members and neighbours often dumped their waste on the street.

“The habit is very unsanitary, people dump their garbage on the street outside their houses,” Hoai said.

Since the Ha Noi Urban Environment One Member Co Ltd (Urenco) used trucks with loudspeakers to remind people about the environment, people’s habits improved markedly.

Dao Duc Khanh, Deputy Head of the Business & Communications Department at Urenco, said, in the past, garbage was piled up on the streets before handcarts came to collect it. The wind would scatter the rubbish or it would be swept down the drain by water.

Trucks and garbage-collection machines are improving conditions in four districts.

Nguyen Thi Hai, a Urenco worker in charge of Dong Da District, said since modern machines were put into operation, the productivity of garbage collection rose (increasing 6-7 times against handcarts). “And more importantly, for sanitation workers, the garbage-collection process is faster and cleaner.”

“The typical diseases experienced by environmental workers, especially those related to the respiratory system or skin, have dropped significantly,” Hai said.

The mechanisation of garbage-collection vehicles implemented by Urenco since March, 2016, has improved the urban environment.

Speaking about environmental and social efficiency, a Urenco official said the streets were cleaner and the image of sanitation workers had improved.

In other districts, garbage collection was still conducted with handcarts, which were less environmentally-friendly. In the future, the company will study and deploy more machines.

To implement the model, areas must meet 4 criteria: household garbage in sealed bags, sealed garbage containers in alleys or residential areas, trucks, and a fixed route.

Nguyen Huu Chien, Deputy Director of Urenco’s Hoan Kiem District branch, said certain areas were unsuitable for garbage-collecting machines as the alleys were too narrow.

Additionally, people’s behaviour has changed “but not much”, Chien said. It was common to see rubbish dropped after the truck had visited.

Hanoi discharges nearly 5,400 tonnes of household garbage per day, of which 3,200 tonnes comes from urban areas, and the remaining waste from rural areas, according to the municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

VNS