Environment firm secures $20 mln in loans from foreign sources

Binh Duong Water Environment JSC (Biwase) signed loans of $20 million with foreign sources on Friday, without a government guarantee, for the construction and operation of a composting plant and waste-to-energy facility in Binh Duong province.

The financing includes $7 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), $6 million from the Leading Asia’s Private Infrastructure Fund (LEAP) administered by ADB, and parallel co-financing of $7 million from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The composting plant will have a processing capacity of 840 tons daily and the output will be sold as fertilizer for agricultural use.

The 5 MW, waste-to-energy facility will be able to process 200 tons of solid waste per day to generate electricity for in-house use at the South Binh Duong Solid Waste Treatment Complex.

Upon completion, the projects will handle 2,520 tons of waste daily, while the rest will incinerated for electricity production, said Biwase CEO Nguyen Van Thien.

The waste processing facility in the southern province now receives over 2,500 tons of household waste and 300 tons of industrial waste daily.

ADB director general for Southeast Asia Ramesh Subramania said: "This project supports Vietnam’s continuous efforts to improve its overall waste management system. It will provide a model for other provinces and surrounding countries seeking to reduce waste through modern processing systems and reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfill."