Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - As Vietnam is undergoing infrastructure development which bringsmounting waste, recycling construction waste is necessary because it will notonly take advantage of the resource but also protect the environment, expertshave said.

Asmany as 37,000 tonnes of solid waste is generated daily in urban areas,according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE).

Ofthat, construction waste accounts for between 12-15 percent.

In2007, the Government issued a resolution on solutions to renovate andrebuild degraded apartments. Therefore, a large amount of construction wastewould be discharged in big cities and urban areas in the coming years, said aMONRE representative.

“Itwill cause great pressure on the environment if the waste issue is not properlyhandled,” he told Kinh tế và đô thị (Economicand Urban Affairs) newspaper.

Therewere more than 2,200 apartments built in the 1970s and 1980s in urban areas andmost of them are seriously degraded.

Accordingto Ngo Kim Tuan from Hanoi Construction University, construction wasteconsists of soil, sand and gravel (36 percent), bricks and masonry (31 percent),concrete (23 percent), and metal and plastic (10 percent).

Themost common treatment method in Vietnam is dumping into the environment andburying in landfills.

Between50-55 percent of construction waste generated daily in big urban areas istreated in landfills. Materials that can be recycled such as steel, metal, woodand plastic are classified at garbage collection points and sold for recycling.

Theremaining waste was dumped illegally into the environment, Tuan said.

“Dealingwith illegal dumping of construction waste is a big challenge for allstakeholders,” he said.

TranCong Hung, from the Vietnam Association for Conservation of Nature andEnvironment, agreed.

“Whilethe resources for construction are increasingly exploited and at risk ofexhaustion, the burial of construction resources is a big waste,” he said.

"Theburying of construction waste not only affected the environment and urbanarea’s beauty but the settlement for illegal dumping of construction waste alsorequired a large amount of money." 

TheGovernment have issued many regulations related to the handling of constructionwaste over the past five years.

TheConstruction Law on 2014 stipulates that contractors bear responsibility forthe management of construction waste.

ANational Strategy for Integrated Management of Solid Waste has been introducedby the Government. It is expected that all solid waste will be collected,recycled and completely treated by advanced, environmentally-friendlytechnologies suitable for each locality by 2050.

Theimportance of waste recycling has also been emphasised in the amended Law onEnvironmental Protection.

However,these regulations and strategies on solid waste management have failed topromote sound management of construction waste due to a lack of guidingdocuments, experts said.

Thecountry also lacked technical standards for using by-products of treated waste,they said.

Researchfrom the World Bank showed that each year Vietnam loses 5 percent of GDP,equivalent to US$10 billion, due to environmental pollution.

Withthe current economic development and urbanisation rate, the volume of waste inurban areas increases by nearly 9 percent annually and the total amount ofwaste in the country is estimated at 54 million tonnes by 2030.

Ifconstruction waste is managed, utilised and handled properly, it canbe recycled and replace natural exploited materials, it said.

Tuấnsuggested the main components of construction waste such as soil, bricks andconcrete can be recycled through proper treatment and be used for otherconstruction sites.

Forexample, the land used to produce clay bricks can be used for road foundationmaterials.

“Theuse of recycled materials contributes to saving resources and minimisingenvironmental pollution at the same time,” he said./.