Ho Chi Minh City has asked relevant authorities to consider scrapping two waste treatment projects assigned to TASCO JSC and Australia’s Trisun Green Energy Corporation due to slow progress.
A $520 million project handed to the Australian firm was approved by municipal authorities in 2017, with a daily capacity of processing 1,000 tons of solid waste and 2,000 tons of hazardous waste. The municipality set a price of $20.63 for processing one ton of waste. Besides, the facility would be allowed to sell electricity generated by the process to Vietnam Electricity (EVN) for 10.05 US cents per kWh.
The 13-hectare project in the Phuoc Hiep waste treatment complex in Cu Chi district was initially set for completion in 33 months and run for 50 years.
The Tasco project is located in the Tay Bac waste treatment complex in the same district. The VND1 trillion ($42.36 million) project, which was meant to handle 500 tons of waste daily, was initiated four years ago but failed to meet the deadline for completion in 2020.
HCMC Vice Mayor Bui Xuan Cuong has asked relevant agencies to check and prepare a legal mechanism for handling domestic waste which exceeds the capacity of current factories.
HCMC’s current daily domestic waste reaches 9,500 tons, of which 60% is buried while the rest is incinerated, recycled, or processed as fertilizer. The amount of domestic waste could reach 13,000 tons a day by 2025. The city is planning to improve the rate of treating domestic waste to 80% by that time, according to the municipal environment department.