A Gap Analysis in Selected Asian Countries, 3R Knowledge Hub ...

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3R Gap Analysis and Findings
Tetra Pak Recycling Initiatives
In Vietnam, Tetra Pak – a global company
providing food processing and packaging
solutions recycled over 18 tons of used cartons in
2006 and nearly 40 tons in 2007.
The company believes in responsible industry
leadership, creating profitable growth in
harmony with environmental sustainability and
good corporate citizenship.
The company is committed to running its
business in an environmentally sound and
sustainable manner. They are committed to
facilitate and promote local collection and
recycling activities for post-consumer carton
packages. They endeavour to support the
customers on finding environmentally
acceptable solutions for their packaging material
waste.
They also facilitate recycling activities of postconsumer
(used) Tetra Pak beverage cartons.
Besides supporting and promoting the collection
of post-consumer packages they are also
involved in promoting environmental awareness
programs in schools and societies.
Source: Tetra Pak - Vietnam
HEALTHCARE WASTE
Healthcare systems in Vietnam are wellestablished
throughout the country with each
province having a minimum of 500 beds.
However, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi account
for 23% of the hospitals in the country. The
areas around Ho Chi Minh City, Thanh Hoa
Province, and Hanoi City generate about 6,000
tons of hazardous healthcare waste each year.
Other provinces generate smaller amounts,
from 0.2 to 1.5 tons daily. Even though, most of
the hospitals (80%) separate their solid waste at
source (stipulated in Regulation on Hazardous
Waste issued by Ministry of Health), they are
often mixed with general waste at the collection
stage. A majority of the healthcare facilities
have contracts with local Public Urban
Environment Companies (URENCO) for the
collection of their waste. Even if hazardous
waste is separated from general healthcare
waste at the hospital wards and industries, it is
commonly re-mixed with common waste prior
Recycled
products and
Educational
programs at
school
to collection by URENCO. Healthcare facilities
that operate incinerators treat their hazardous
healthcare waste on-site and the treated waste
and incinerator ash are later collected with
others.
Although Vietnam has the capacity to
incinerate more than 50% of its hazardous
healthcare waste, the majority of incinerators
are not operating at full capacity due to
financial difficulties. Many incinerators operate
only twice a week or 4–6 hours per day. In
Hanoi, for instance, where the installed
incineration capacity is as high as 70% (3,600
kg/day), the amount of hazardous healthcare
waste that was actually incinerated in 2003
varied from 18-33 % of the total. A few
hospitals have addressed the problem of lack of
financial resources by introducing a special
user fee of 1,000 VND per bed per day to cover
incineration costs (e.g. Hanoi Tuberculosis
Hospital, Vinh Children’s Hospital).