VietNamNet Bridge - A series of plants making fertilizer from domestic waste have been built in recent years with ODA (official development assistance) capital.  And a lot of them, capitalized at tens or hundreds of billions of dong have been left idle.

In late 2012, the Hai Duong fertilizer plant was put into operation. Hai Duong Urban Environment Company, the investor, built the plant with VND137 billion, of which VND60 billion was from Spanish ODA.

Just after a short operation period, the investor transferred the plant to Hai Duong APT-Seraphin JSC.

According to the Hai Duong provincial authorities, to date, the APT Seraphin has paid VND3.2 billion worth of ODA principal and interest so far.

However, since the products remain unsalable, the microbiology fertilizer production line has stopped operation and all the domestic waste has been carried to Seraphin’s waste treatment plant for burning.

A series of plants making fertilizer from domestic waste have been built in recent years with ODA (official development assistance) capital.  And a lot of them, capitalized at tens or hundreds of billions of dong have been left idle.

Having been left unused for a long time, the equipment of the plant has got ruined and in order to restore the production line, Seraphin will have to spend VND79 billion.

Just two years after taking over the plant, in early 2015, APT – Seraphin Hai Duong decided to give back the project, saying that it is not financially capable enough to continue running the plant.

Bac Viet Environment Service JSC was chosen by the Hai Duong provincial authorities as the new owner of the plant. However, later, in May 2016, the investor refused to receive the plant.

In the latest news, the Hai Duong provincial Planning and Investment Department considers choosing the Hai Duong Urban Works Management JSC as the new investor.

A representative of the department said that some investors give up the projects on turning domestic waste into fertilizer because ‘this is a difficult problem to solve’.

A report of the department showed that because of the interruption of the plant, waste has been left untreated. The volume of untreated waste sometimes reaches 22,000 tons. Meanwhile, there exists a volume of unsold fertilizer which has been compost into humus which has seriously polluted the environment.

A lot of other waste treatment plants built with the ODA from Spain, South Korea, France and Belgium have the same fates.

The fertilizer plant in Lao Cai City, which became operational in October 2015 is one of them. In March 2016, the provincial authorities instructed to halt its operation from April 1 because the products could not meet physical and chemical standards as designed and they could not be sold in the market.

An expert affirmed that the technology to turn waste into fertilizer is modern which ensures the sustainable development of the environment. The problem lies in the high treatment expenses, which is three times higher than normal technology. Therefore, environment companies still prefer dumping and burning waste.

Pham Huyen