Province to spend $2 mln to close largest landfill in Da Lat

The project, which would draw from the state budget and take an expected three years to complete, would backfill the entire 13-hectare landfill, to be covered with a tarpaulin. After being leveled, the area would be planted with grass to improve the landscape.

To protect the surrounding environment, the project will include a 1,450-meter-long embankment, a water treatment station with a capacity of 50 cubic meters a day, and a water storage tank of 360 cubic meters.

The Cam Ly landfill, spanning nearly 13 ha and only five kilometers from downtown Da Lat, was the largest in town, having functioned for several decades. It takes in daily waste from both Da Lat and Lac Duong.

In August 2019, a large amount of waste from the landfill slid downhill following heavy rains, burying hectares of greenhouses and fields under a thick layer of garbage. Last July, the incident reoccurred, causing severe pollution.

Cam Ly landfill had been Da Lat’s only garbage treatment facility for decades until its closure in 2015, when the solid waste treatment plant in Xuan Truong District commenced operation.

However, in 2017, the landfill was reopened as the trash load became too much for the plant to process. This dovetailed with Da Lat’s rising status as a popular tourist destination.

The landfill has taken in around 65,000 tons of garbage a year.

Currently, Da Lat, home to 350,000 people and a tourism hotspot in the Central Highlands, discards 200 tons of garbage a day. The amount of daily solid waste will be transferred to the Xuan Truong plant for treatment.

Da Lat, referred to as "Le petit Paris" and "City of Flowers" for its cool climate and wide range of flora, attracts nearly a million visitors a year.