Australia's Trisun Green Energy Co has secured approval to build a $520-million waste treatment plant outside Ho Chi Minh City, according to the municipal government.
The Sydney-based firm will apply plasma gasification technology in the plant to burn 3,000 tons of garbage per day, equivalent to more than 40 percent of the city's volume of waste.
Most of garbage from the city, Vietnam's largest economic hub, has so far been treated by burial method at landfill sites, which poses a high risk of pollution to the environment. The remaining waste is incinerated and a small portion gets recycled.
The plant, to be built in the suburban district of Cu Chi for 33 months, will use runaway heat for generating electricity while the post-incineration material will be used for making building materials.
The cost to treat each ton of solid household waste at $20.63 per ton will be covered by Ho Chi Minh City while the Australian firm will negotiate the cost for treating industrial, medical and hazardous waste with their generators.
In October 2016, the city gave Cienco, a state-owned company providing environmental services, the go-ahead to build the first waste treatment plant that can generate power.
Data from the municipal environment department showed the city produces about 2.5 million tons of garbage each year, costing it VND1 trillion ($44 million) for waste treatment.
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