Domestic solid waste management is one of the major challenges regarding environmental protection as Vietnam generates an average 61,000 tonnes of domestic solid waste per day, including over 37,000 tonnes from urban areas and over 24,000 tonnes from rural areas.
In previous decades, domestic solid waste management policy often aimed to provide waste treatment at the lowest cost through the practice of burying waste. But now, domestic solid waste management is being carried out according to an integrated process, which manages the entire life cycle of solid waste from the generation of waste to the final treatment stage.
The purpose of this activity is to protect human health and the environment as well as saving resources and responding to climate change towards sustainable development.
Under the integrated management process, the recycling and reuse of waste have the potential to bring about economic values directly from the waste source.
From the requirements of solid waste management, the recycling and reuse of domestic solid waste in Vietnam have gradually formed separate markets. The goods in these markets include waste used as input to recycling and products produced from recycling.
In Vietnam, there are currently two markets for domestic solid waste recycling, including an informal market (not fully and strictly managed by the State) and an official market (under the strict management and supervision of the State).
The informal model in waste recycling in provinces and cities makes huge contribution to domestic solid waste management, bringing about high economic value while creating jobs for thousands of workers.
Subjects participating in this model include waste generating groups (organisations, individuals, households, production and business establishments), scrap collection intermediaries, and recycling establishments.
Following the general development trend of other countries around the world, a waste recycling market has appeared that is strictly managed and controlled by State agencies in Vietnam, with the official participation of recycling companies.
These companies are licensed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment as they meet strict requirements on environmental protection conditions in domestic solid waste production and trading.
Although there are more than 200 solid waste recycling enterprises in Vietnam, they are mainly private enterprises of small and medium scale, with outdated technology and low economic efficiency.
Experts and managers in the environmental sector all share the same opinion that to develop the recycling market, waste must be converted into valuable goods to be used as input materials while ensuring quality for reuse.
However, the classification of domestic solid waste in Vietnam is still implemented in a fragmented and asynchronous manner, leading to various impurities in the composition of domestic solid waste which cannot meet the standards for raw materials for production or recycling.
On the other hand, Vietnam does not have a supporting industry strong enough for recycling activities while lacking resources for recycling such as capital, qualified human resources, specialised equipment, and the ability to master new technologies.
Currently, most of the machinery and equipment is homemade or imported with low quality. In addition, although there are relatively adequate legal documents on solid waste recycling market, this market has not been fully formed due to the lack of mechanisms and policies linking businesses and manufacturers while businesses still face difficulties in consuming recycled products.
In order to develop a sustainable and efficient recycling market for domestic solid waste, it is necessary to synchronously deploy market development solutions regarding recycled products and recycled materials with a focus on the classification and cleaning of waste at the source.
Therefore, Vietnam needs to build a system of policies to promote the classification of domestic solid waste at source and consider this as an important first solution in the recycling industry.
It is also advisable to diversify the investment form and capital sources to support the recycling and reuse of domestic solid waste while boosting the research, application and transfer of advanced technologies in the production of products from reusable materials.
At the same time, it is important to raise people’s awareness of the benefits of recycled products to change consumers' habits around recycled and reused products.
