Hanoi saves billions of dong each year thanks to recycled waste

Hoan Kiem District accounts for nearly 90% of recyclable waste after 6 months of piloting source classification, helping Hanoi save billions of dong each year, according to Urenco leaders.

Since June, five districts of Hanoi, namely Ba Dinh, Hoan Kiem, Hai Ba Trung, Dong Da and Nam Tu Liem, have piloted waste classification at source. Accordingly, waste is divided into four categories, including recyclable/reusable, bulky, hazardous and residual waste, before being collected and treated.

After half a year of piloting, Hanoi Urban Environment Company Limited (Urenco) said they collected 380 tons of recyclable waste, more than 250 tons of bulky waste, and 200kg of disposable batteries.

At the Vietnam Circular Economy Forum 2024 on December 10, Mr. Dang Huu Binh, Deputy General Director of Urenco, said that Hoan Kiem District has 18 pilot wards, accounting for 89% of the city’s recycled waste, equivalent to 3 tons per day. Nam Tu Liem and Hai Ba Trung districts respectively achieved 4% and 5% of collected recycled waste. The remaining two districts each collected 1%.

With a transportation fee of VND169,000-528,000 per ton to the treatment site, he estimated that Hoan Kiem district helps the city save about VND2.5 million per day on the amount of recyclable waste collected. “Minus the transportation and collection cost of VND519,000, we save nearly VND2 million per day for the budget,” Mr. Binh said.

Similarly, processing 1.6 tons of bulky waste at source helps the city save 1 million VND. That is, just collecting recyclable and bulky waste in Hoan Kiem district can save the city a billion VND a year.

Explaining the outstanding results of Hoan Kiem, the Deputy General Director of Urenco said that the district government has proactively issued a waste classification plan. In addition, businesses in the area have joined hands to promote and sponsor gifts for people to classify. Currently, the amount of recycled waste from Hoan Kiem is still maintained at approximately three tons per day.

After collection, recycled waste will go to scrap yards, sorting stations, through recycling plants and then return to the finished product life cycle in manufacturing enterprises.

The cost of collection, transportation or logistics is the most expensive, according to a representative of Urenco. In fact, a 5-ton truck of the enterprise can only carry nearly a ton of paper, because the waste is bulky, leading to a small specific volume. Urenco has invested in a sorting facility of more than 2,000 square meters for packaging and preliminary processing to improve efficiency in transportation. This enterprise is submitting to the city for approval of the planning of the next sorting station in Cau Dien district.

On the people’s side, a representative of Unilever said that many people cannot sacrifice convenience, they do not sort waste when the benefits are gone. In addition, there is also a need for incentive policies for businesses to use recycled materials, because this is the basis for creating output for recycled waste sorted from the source.

Source: Vnexpress.