E-waste poses risk to Vietnam's environment: survey

The exponential growth of the information technology (IT) industry in recent years is posing a significant risk to Vietnam's environment as the disposal of electrical and electronic equipment waste rapidly expands, local media reported Friday.

Over the past five years, Vietnam's IT industry has grown an average of 45.5 percent annually. Total revenue exceeded 25.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2012 alone, over 94 percent of which came from electronic equipment and hardware, state-run Radio the Voice of Vietnam quoted figures from the General Statistics Office as saying.

The number of personal computers (PCs) adopted by each household nationwide reached 0.17 between 2004 and 2010 while the usage rate of washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners and television sets jumped by 183 percent, 139 percent, 32 percent and 23 percent, respectively.

Capital Hanoi is forecast to discard 161,000 TVs, 97,000 PCs, 178,000 refrigerators, 136,000 washing machines and 97,000 air conditioners by 2020. Meanwhile, similar waste from southern metropolis Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City are predicted at higher numbers.

A recent survey conducted in Hanoi and HCM City by an Asia- Pacific consortium of IT corporations and its Vietnamese counterpart showed that between 81 and 100 percent of respondents would rather sell their second-hand electronic items to scrap-iron dealers or private electronic repair shops than donate them to e- waste treatment companies.

Only three out of 15 e-waste treatment facilities are performing at their designed capacity, handling an average of 9, 000-11,000 tons per year, far from the estimated 61,000--113,000 tons in need of treatment. High recycling costs and a lack of support from relevant agencies are attributed to this gap, said the survey. Endi