The waste-to-energy plant is built in Hương Thủy Town of the central Thừa Thiên-Huế Province. The plant can process 600 tonnes of waste per day, while collecting ash for construction material and power generation. — Photos courtesy of Dinh Văn

THỪA THIÊN-HUẾ — The central province has put into operation the first advanced technology waste-to-energy plant in Hương Thủy Town as part of the sustainability plan to build a ‘green’ urban area in central Việt Nam.

The Phú Sơn waste treatment plant, invested by EB environment energy company from 2021 at a cost of VNĐ1.7 trillion on 11.2ha, could process 600 tonnes of waste per day, while providing material for construction from ash and having power production capacity of 12MW per hour of incineration.

The plant was designed for processing 220,000 tonnes of waste per year, and supplying 93 million kilowatt per hour. It also collects trash and leachate for recycling and treatment, as well as strictly monitoring air emissions under European standards.

Ash is collected from incineration at Phú Sơn waste-to-energy plant in Hương Thủy Town of Thừa Thiên-Huế Province. It's the first advanced technology waste treatment project in central Việt Nam.

Deputy Chairman of the provincial people’s committee Phan Quý Phương said the waste treatment plant would help the tourism hub improve environmental protection by reducing waste released to the environment and preventing pollution from dumping.

Huế City, a tourism hub in central Việt Nam, in co-operation with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF-Việt Nam), has launched the project 'Huế - plastic smart city in central Việt Nam' to cut its plastic waste by 30 per cent before 2024, and will be a ‘zero plastic waste’ destination by 2030.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) also provided a non-refundable assistance package worth US$53,858 for the province to implement urban waste recycling in 2018.

Engineers work in the monitoring room of the Phú Sơn waste-to-energy plant in Thừa Thiên-Huế. The plant is operated under European standards.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Embassy of Japan in Việt Nam also presented six electric trucks to the Huế City People's Committee to use for waste collection, supporting the green transformation and carbon and methane reduction of the transport sector.

These are also the first electric trucks for garbage collection operating in Việt Nam.

The central province has been cooperating closely with international organisations and partners in boosting 'green' traffic by encouraging electric vehicles in the province's 2021-2030 master plan. — VNS