VietNamNet Bridge - The functions of garbage incinerators is to treat waste to minimize pollution. However, in many places, they are actually causing pollution.

Some years ago, a VND3 billion incinerator with Thai technology was set up on the dumping ground in Cao Thuong Town in Tan Yen District of Bac Giang Province. But the area continues to be filled with garbage. 

Dang Xuan Hong, who lives next to the dumping ground, complained that when the incinerator operates, it produces thick black smoke which gives a terrible smell.

“We have to close windows in our houses,” he said.

Similarly, the garbage incinerator in Song Thao Town of Cam Khe District in Phu Tho Province, which was put into operation in 2013, also could not help settle pollution.

“When we heard about the incinerator, we thought this would be a very modern incinerator which runs with advanced technology. However, this is a small one which produces thick black smoke,” Trinh Binh Xuyen, deputy chair of Song Thao People’s Committee, said.

Nguyen Van Xuat, deputy director of the Bac Giang provincial Science and Technology Department, said the agency has taken inspection tours to the incinerators in the province and found that most of them have SO2 indicators and an exhaust gas temperature 2.5-6 times higher than the permitted level.  

As for the ash, the heavy metal indicators in the ash from the incinerators were all higher than permitted levels: the arsenic concentration was higher by 2.58-3.53 times, cadmium 2.78- 4.38 and mercury 4.35-5.75.

Xuat said that most of the substandard incinerators were set up by local authorities without consultation with the science department.

“Most of the incinerators cannot meet the requirements. They are just incinerators that burn garbage, not treat waste,” he said.

Nguyen Huy Nga, former head of the Ministry of Health’s Environmental Protection Agency, noted that Vietnam was utilizing out-of-date incineration technology, warning that the incinerators produce dioxin, furans, carcinogens and worsen the greenhouse gas effect.

Nga said small incinerators which cannot treat all pollutants can be a bigger threat. As a result, heavy metals are retained in the ash. Heavy metals are hazardous waste substances that can cause cancer.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai recently requested the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MONRE) to examine the incinerators in some localities. 

The ministry came to a conclusion that many incinerators cannot satisfy the requirements for emissions treatment.

Tin Tuc