Description

Dealing with the new Covid-19 wave, since 24th July Hà Nội has applied strict social distancing for 14 days. This has significantly increased the solid waste quantity in residential areas, where waste is collected from door to door.

In the meantime, there are more lockdown areas in the city. The management of waste from lockdown residential areas in Hà Nội follows a careful and safe process from collection, transportation, and treatment to minimize transmission risks, according to Mr. Tống Việt Dũng, deputy director of the Urban and Industrial Environment No 13 Joint Stock Company.

More specifically, two trash cans are put in each lockdown area: one for potentially infectious waste like masks, tissues, and medical protective clothing and another for normal household waste. The environmental workers in protective clothing, after temperature check, collect the waste from the trash cans hourly. The potentially infectious waste is then put into a bag, sealed to be tight. Subsequently, this bag is put into another bag and thrown into the garbage truck. The truck is disinfected after leaving the lockdown area and goes directly to the specialized waste treatment facility. Here, the waste is autoclaved and dried to remove possible infectious agents.

Sources & further information: “Waste in Hà Nội from lockdown areas to be treated as potentially-infectious waste” at https://vietnamnews.vn, and “Hà Nội: Nguy cơ ô nhiễm trong giãn cách do rác thải tăng mạnh” at https://www.moitruongvadothi.vn, accessed on 3 August 2021.