Local authorities yesterday discussed with an American investor a US$700 million waste treatment project to be built in Long An Province, some 30km west of HCM City.
A delegation from the Long An People’s Council discussed the progress of the Tan Thanh Waste Treatment Complex project with representatives of HCM City’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
The Viet Nam Waste Solutions Co (VWS) was accredited by the Government to build waste-treatment facilities with green technology in July 2010.
VWS will invest $700 million in the waste treatment complex, expected to be one of the largest in Southeast Asia. It is located on 1,760ha in Tan Lap Commune in Long An’s Thu Thua Disitrict.
Discussions included project application and assessment, waste treatment technology, categories of waste to be treated at the complex, means of waste transport, environmental impact assessment of the project, ratio of waste to be buried and waste recycling.
According to a report released at the meeting by Nguyen Van Phuoc, deputy director of HCM City Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the Tan Thanh Complex was designed to treat solid waste, excluding toxic waste, from Long An, HCM City and other provinces in the Southern key economic zone.
When operational, the complex could receive about two-thirds of the solid waste discharged from Long An and a third from HCM City. It will be able to treat 10,000 to 15,000 tonnes of waste per day, said Phuoc.
Waste from the city can be transported to the treatment complex by truck, traveling from HCM City to Thu Thua Town, and another 10km (not yet built) road from Thu Thua to the complex.
It can also be transported by another road from Ba Hom Street in Binh Chanh District to Duc Hoa Town in Long An, and from there to the complex.
Waterway transport
The HCM City Department of Natural Resources and Environment is seeking the shortest waterway for transporting waste from the city to the complex.
Darryl Petker, director of VWS’ Long An Project Development, said American specialists are conducting geological surveys at the site of the complex in Long An.
The investment period will last 20 years and when construction is complete the complex will be operational for 75 to 100 years, according to VWS figures.
During the meeting, the Long An People’s Council delegation also visited Da Phuoc Waste Treatment Facility, currently run by VWS in HCM City’s Binh Chanh District.
David Duong, president of the management board and CEO of VWS, also runs the California Waste Solutions Co in the US, which took 37th place in Waste Age magazine’s ranking of the top 100 American companies in the waste transportation and treatment industry.
