Vietnam’s Mekong Delta struggles with huge waste problem

Many Mekong Delta residents are suffering bad odor, water pollution and related irritation as the region lacks waste treatment options, relying mostly on a small number of landfills.

Moreover, experts say that landfills are a band-aid solution that will do more harm than good in the medium and long term.

Residents of An Duc and An Hiep communes in Ba Tri district, Ben Tre province have had their daily lives badly disrupted by the stench coming from the An Hiep landfill. Some of the irate residents have even tried to stop garbage trucks from entering the landfill.

Ben Tre’s Department of Resources and Environment (BDRE) has reported that they have been implementing some technical solutions, but these have not worked. For instance, the use of deodorants has proved ineffective because the quantity of accumulated garbage is huge.

Bui Minh Tuan, chief of BDRE, said it was impossible to resolve the waste crisis until a new province-funded waste treatment plant began operations in 2026.

Residents near the Tan Tao landfill in Chau Hung township, Vinh Loi district, Bac Lieu province, have been constantly complaining to the authorities about the terrible pollution that has been “overwhelming” them.

On August 29, 2023, the Bac Lieu People’s Committee Chairman held direct talks with the residents on potential solutions.

Kien Giang province has a plant in Hon Dat district capable of processing 200 tons of garbage per day, but demand has trebled over the last six years.

Useless, costly treatment plants

In 2009, the Vinh Long People’s Committee approved a proposal by Phuong Thao Construction Development JSC for building a hi-tech waste treatment plant with a designed capacity of 200-300 tons/day, converting garbage into compost fertilizer of up to 36,000 tons/year for agricultural use.

Three years later, the company announced that it would raise the investment capital for the project to VND238 billion ($9.84 million), and reschedule the construction deadline to 2013. The Vietnam Development Bank's (VDB) Can Tho Branch lent it VND200 billion for purchasing equipment and technologies. In 2013, the plant went on a trial run but failed to satisfy the environmental standards for waste treatment and was forced to halt operations till the problem was fixed.

In September 2016, the plant re-opened, using incineration technology. This, too, failed to work. Authorities then issued an official decision to revoke the company’s license and call for new investors capable of building and running a 500-ton-per-day plant on the same site.

The same year, the Kien Giang People’s Committee granted Global Renewable Energy JSC permission to invest in the Bai Bon waste treatment plant with a capacity of processing 200 tons/day in Ham Ninh commune, Phu Quoc Island. However, the license was soon revoked after the company’s incompetence came to light. The Minh Thuan Thanh Construction Investment Co Ltd. proposed that it takes over the project, but it also failed to prove its ability.

The total volume of urban solid waste in the Mekong Delta will reach 4,300 tons/day on average, making up 78% of the entire charge - according a report for the regional industry and urban development by 2030, vision toward 2045.

The thirteen Mekong Delta provinces and cities run just 10 waste treatment plants and incineration technology accounts for 30%. Two other facilities are being considered in Long An and Ca Mau provinces.

With provinces that have some waste treatment facilities suffering so badly, the fate of those localities that don’t have any is likely to be worse, locals say.