Vietnam: HCM City makes clean energy from garbage

Vietnam: HCM City makes clean energy from garbage

The official made his announcement last week while visiting a plant that
recycles garbage to produce electricity at the Go Cat Solid Waste Treatment
Complex in Binh Chanh district.

Around 1.5 million tonnes of solid waste from industry, and 8,300 tonnes of
garbage from household activities are discharged every day in the city,
Phong said. The volume will increase as the population grows and the economy
develops.

The city aims to halve the amount of buried solid waste by 2020, with the
rest recycled to produce energy and compost.

Recycling at the Go Cat Solid Waste Treatment Complex is being done on a
trial basis with technology developed by Vietnamese scientists.

A representative of Hydraulic Machine Co said the People's Committee should
expand treatment to a capacity of 1,000 tonnes of garbage per day. The
company is working with the HCM City Urban Environment Co. to pilot the
recycling of garbage to produce electricity.

Phong said the committee had approved investment for a plant to produce
energy on a larger scale and that the Department of Natural Resources and
Environment would evaluate results of the pilot.

The companies involved must carefully consider the environmental impact of
each energy production project, he added.

Nguyen Toan Thang, Director of the city's Department of Natural Resources
and Environment, said the Go Cat Solid Waste Treatment Complex, which covers
25 ha, stopped receiving garbage in 2007. The total volume of garbage at the
facility at that time was 5.3 million tonnes.

The HCM City Urban Environment Co was assigned to operate and manage the
complex. The company is permitted to store non-hazardous industrial solid
waste, which is transported to the 45-ha Dong Thanh Waste Treatment Complex
in Hoc Mon district and other facilities.

Earlier this year, the company studied the recycling of garbage into energy
in Ha Nam province and submitted a proposal to the HCM City People's
Committee for approval of pilot production at the Go Cat Solid Waste
Treatment Complex.

If the pilot production is a success, technologies created by Vietnamese
scientists will be used by other waste treatment companies in the city,
Thang said.

Nguyen Gia Long, general director of Hydraulic-Machine Co, said the
installment of systems for pilot production began in March.

The pilot plant has treated 500 tonnes of industrial garbage so far and
produced 7MW, he said, adding that generated power was being used for the
national grid and the plant's lights.

Nguyen Phuong Dong, deputy director of the city's Department of Industry and
Trade, said that under the city's 2015-2025 electricity development plan,
the city targets producing 100MW of clean energy using biomass, wind and
garbage, as well as solar power.

Currently, renewable energy from garbage comes only from the Go Cat pilot
plant, Dong said.

Since its capacity is low, it is necessary to increase the output of energy
from garbage to reach the city's target, he added.

Le Van Khoa, Vice Chairman of the city People's Committee, said the two
companies should also develop other ways to recycle waste to generate power.
The goal is to reduce the amount of buried waste in the city as much as
possible, he added.

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Link to Original Article:
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/environment/182173/hcm-city-makes-clean-ene
rgy-from-garbage.html

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com