HCM City (VNS/VNA) - The Ho Chi MinhCity People’s Committee has approved the construction of three plants togenerate electricity from waste using advanced technologies, and work on themwill start in September and October, according to the municipal Department ofNatural Resources and Environment.

Speaking at a press conference on August 26, thedepartment’s director Nguyen Toan Thang said the plants are expected to startrunning on a trial basis in September next year, and process 50 percent of thecity’s solid waste to produce power.

They will come up at existing solid wastetreatment facilities in Cu Chi district run by the Tam Sinh Nghia InvestmentDevelopment JSC., Vietstar Joint Stock Company and Tasco Joint Stock Company.

 “They would help ensure a healthy livingenvironment and are needed for the city’s green and sustainable economicdevelopment.”

Using advanced technologies to generateelectricity at waste treatment plants is in line with the city's orientation onurban solid waste management.

The city wants waste-treatment facilities to useadvanced technologies to generate electricity from garbage instead of buryingit in landfills. It aims to reduce the volume of buried waste to 20percent by 2025.

Burning and burying of garbage are two methodsthat have an adverse impact on the environment.

The city generates around 9,000 tonnes of solidwaste daily, of which 72.5 percent is buried and the rest is burnt, recycled orused to produce fertilisers.

Advanced technologies will convert waste intoelectricity and produce by-products that can be recycled.

The power generated would be used to run theplants and the excess would be transmitted to the national grid, Thang said.

“The projects will help reduce the volume ofburied waste and greenhouse gas emissions, and control odours and leachateleakage from waste.”

Ngo Nhu Hung Viet, Director of Vietstar JointStock Company, said the power plant would use German technology and have adaily waste processing capacity of 2,000 tonnes in the first phase by 2020 and4,000 tonnes in the second phase by 2021.

“It would help HCM better protect the environmentand to become a more modern city,” he said.

Groundbreaking for the construction would be onAugust 28, he said.

Thang said the municipal People’s Committee hasdirected relevant agencies to quickly complete the legal procedures for thethree plants.

The city will call for bids to identify investorsfor two more similar power plants next year.-VNS/VNA