Industrial zones generate 550,000 tons of hazardous waste each year.

Struggling to convert to ecological industrial zones

According to the document of the Legal Department (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) sent to the forum "Promoting sustainable development of industrial parks (IPs) in Vietnam" on March 28 in Hanoi , as of February 20, the whole country had 418 established IPs. Of these, 298 IPs have come into operation; 120 IPs are under construction.

Các khu công nghiệp phát sinh 550.000 tấn chất thải nguy hại mỗi năm- Ảnh 1. — Overview of the forum

There are 29 industrial parks in operation nationwide that do not have a centralized wastewater treatment system. Industrial parks without wastewater systems are located in the following provinces: Hoa Binh, Lao Cai, Phu Tho, Hung Yen, Ninh Binh, Thai Binh, Thanh Hoa, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien - Hue, Lam Dong, Binh Phuoc, Bac Lieu, Can Tho, Dong Thap.

Notably, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, currently 100% of industrial parks have environmental impact assessment reports and environmental protection projects. More than 12,200 establishments operating in industrial parks generate more than 4.2 million tons of solid waste, of which industrial parks in the Southeast region account for 61.02%.

Hazardous waste generated from industrial zones annually is about 550,000 tons. Industrial zones in the northern midlands and mountainous areas generate the most, accounting for 45%.

Speaking to Thanh Nien earlier, Dr. Phan Huu Thang, interim Chairman of the Vietnam Industrial Park Finance Association, former Director of the Foreign Investment Agency (Ministry of Planning and Investment), said that although the Vietnamese industrial park system has developed strongly in recent times, there are still some problems.

The industrial park development model is still multi-sector and multi-field with the development driving force mainly based on land potential. Many new industrial park models such as high-tech industrial parks, ecological industrial parks, etc. have not been built and developed to take advantage of favorable factors and meet the requirements of international investors on green development and environmental protection.

To move towards green and sustainable development, the solution to transform the model in industrial parks is the content shared by many delegates at the forum.

Ms. Tran To Loan, Deputy General Director of Sao Do Group - investor of Nam Dinh Vu Industrial Park ( Hai Phong ), said that Nam Dinh Vu Industrial Park is in the process of converting from a traditional industrial park model to an ecological industrial park. During the conversion process, the first difficulty encountered is capital and finance.

"Industrial parks are mainly developed in phases, in a rolling manner. Investing in a synchronous system requires huge costs," said Ms. Loan. In addition, she also mentioned the issue of many unclear regulations, causing difficulties for businesses.

"In Decree 35/2022 regulating the management of economic zones and industrial parks, the ecological industrial park model is introduced. When talking about industrial parks participating in cleaner production activities and using resources more efficiently, the decree sets a specific target that 20% of enterprises in industrial parks must implement cleaner production.

However, this regulation does not specify what is "cleaner" or what is "more efficient use of resources". In order to use resources more efficiently and cleanly, the industrial park itself and the enterprises in the zone must also invest a large amount of financial resources to change all technology and production lines. Without specific regulations, it is difficult to encourage enterprises to make the transition," Ms. Loan gave an example.

It is necessary to soon specify criteria for ecological industrial parks.

According to Mr. Thang, the Government has issued Decree 35/2022 with clear definitions of industrial parks such as supporting industrial parks, specialized industrial parks, ecological industrial parks, high-tech industrial parks, expanded industrial parks; detailed regulations on the formation, management and development of industrial park types... However, developing green industrial parks to eliminate waste and minimize negative impacts on the environment still faces certain difficulties.

Besides, there are still regulations and orientations for the development of industrial zones that have been issued but are scattered in many other legal documents, in related laws such as land, construction, environment and administrative procedures that still need to be improved.

"Only by overcoming these limitations can we accelerate the development of highly effective industrial parks, in line with the green and high-tech development orientation set for the coming period," Mr. Thang emphasized.

Proposing solutions to promote sustainable development of industrial parks at the forum, Ms. Virginia Foote, member of the Executive Board of AmCham Hanoi, CEO of Bay Global Strategies, said that there should be a mechanism to promote enterprises to seriously and synchronously implement the regulations set out in the industrial parks to achieve high efficiency, avoiding the situation where in the same facility some enterprises do it and others do not.

Ms. Loan hopes that in the coming time, state management agencies will issue more specific regulations to create favorable conditions for industrial parks as well as enterprises in the industrial parks during the conversion process.

Meanwhile, many other opinions at the forum suggested the need to soon specify the criteria for ecological industrial parks with specific incentive policies, especially regarding access to land, planning, capital and science and technology, in which it is necessary to specify the responsibilities of relevant parties such as management agencies, investors, local authorities...

Source link