SUCCESSFUL MODEL OF WASTE SEPARATION AT HOUSEHOLD LEVEL HAS BEEN REPLICATED WIDELY IN TAN AN CITY

Posted on 5 November 2020

From November 5th onwards, all households, agencies and businesses of Ward 3, Tan An city will sort out their waste before it is collected.

Long An – November 4^th 2020 - From November 5th onwards, all households, agencies and businesses of Ward 3, Tan An city will sort out their waste before it is collected. Accordingly, local people will have to classify their waste into 03 categories: organic waste, recyclable waste and other waste. These wastes will be collected on different days based on their type. Waste will then be treated separately, in which the organic will be made to produce organic fertiliser, recycled waste will be recycled and the rest will be treated at a factory. This is one of the major efforts put forth by the city and province to deal with the overload of local landfills in Long An province. They want to make use of waste resources while contributing to the prevention of waste, especially plastic waste, being released into rivers and oceans.

In the last two months (August and September), WWF worked closely with the local authorities to pilot waste separation at the source in Binh Dong 2 street, Ward 3 of Tan An. There were 430 households that participated in the model and the results are inspiring with some remarkable achievements. More than 95% of the households actively participated in the program with 86% of them doing a good job. Organic waste made up about 45% of the waste and all the waste was collected and transported to the Tam Sinh Nghia waste treatment plant for treatment.

With this success, Tan An has decided to replicate the model in the entirety of Ward 3, with about 4,800 households. With the strong will of the local government and the strong commitment of the people, it is expected that the model will achieve significant outcomes. Such outcomes include producing high quality organic fertilizers from organic waste; maximising the amount of recyclable and reusable waste; and minimising the amount of landfilled or burned waste.

"Garbage and the overload of landfills are always a problem in the city and we have a hard time finding a comprehensive solution. The success of the pilot model in Binh Dong 2 has brought us confidence and determination to expand the model to the entirety of Ward 3 and Tan An City in the near future”, said Pham Van Canh, Vice Chairman of Long An People’s Committee.

It is estimated that 80% of the plastic waste in the ocean comes from cities with high population density. The insufficient terrestrial waste management system, in combination, with increasing the sales and use of single-use plastic products, has seriously added to the marine plastic problem. Tan An city lies downstream of the Mekong, one of the 10 most polluted rivers in the world. If the waste problem of the city can be solved, it will contribute greatly to reducing plastic waste in the river and the ocean and set an example for others to follow.

Ms Trinh Thi Long, Project Manager of Reduction of Marine Litter by Improved Waste Management Measures in the Mekong Area of WWF-Viet Nam, shared, “Waste separation at the source is not too difficult and many countries around the world have done it. In Viet Nam, we do not have this system yet due to numerous factors, including people's habits not being formed and our waste treatment systems not being fully set up for it yet. The success of Binh Dong 2 in waste classification in the past two months has proven to us that this work is feasible and people do support it. I believe that with the increasing awareness of the people and the strong willingness of the authority, waste problems will be resolved in the near future and waste will be a resource in Viet Nam. "

Separation of waste at the source is one of the activities from the project, Reduction of Marine Litter by Improved Waste Management Measures in the Mekong Area, implemented by WWF-Viet Nam with sponsorship from the German Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Kaldewei and Straniak (Germany).

Ms. Helene Paust, First Secretary – Deputy Head of Development Cooperation, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Viet Nam said: “We are thrilled that the project started because the model of separating waste at source didn't get much interest after some similar projects have failed. Therefore, we are very pleased that the project's activities have shown positive results already. When we could convince people that it is them, and not anyone else, who can solve the problems of the environment in which they live, they will have greater motivation and beliefs in what they are doing. Perhaps this will be the secret to the success of this activity”.

Numerous activities have been carried out by WWF to implement this model. Such activities include the creation of a series of courses and meetings that guide people on how to separate waste at the source, the distribution of trash cans and garbage bags for households and the support of garbage collection trucks in neighbourhoods. Project staff also accompanied waste-collectors and authorities to supervise the implementation of waste separation, the elimination of spontaneous waste dumps that cause pollution and loss of aesthetics and the creation of a waste treatment tour for residents.

Weighing garbage after collection

Waste is collected separately

Auditing household waste composition