Solid Waste Management in Vietnam: State and Institutional Framework and Challenges

Country Context

Located in south-east Asia, Vietnam is the third most populated country in the region, ranking 14^th in the world by population (see Figure 1). The country population increased from 86.95 million in 2010 to 94.67 million in 2018. Its average of 1 million people per year is expected to increase. Vietnam has also experienced a rapid urbanization process with the urban population increasing from 26.51 million (~30% of total population) in 2010 to 33.83 million (~ 36%) in 2018 (see Figure 2).

Figure 1.

Administration map of Vietnam (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment [MONRE], 2018a)

Figure 2.

Total, rural and urban population of Vietnam 2010-2018 (adapted from General Statistics Office of Vietnam [GSO], 2018)

The adoption of the renovation policy shifted the country’s focus from centrally planning into a market economy. In turn, Vietnam has achieved high economic growth in the last 30 years. The average gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate is about 6.63% per year from 1986-2017. It reached 7.08% in 2018 (see Figure 3). One of the reasons for this is the high industrialization process. The industrial production value increased sharply from ~9,500 billion Vietnam dong (VND) (408.5 million USD) in 1990 to 1,700,000 billion VND (73.1 billion USD) in 2017 (GSO, 2018).

The middle-income population has increased along with the economic development. According to the World Bank, an average of 1.5 million Vietnamese has joined the global middle-class each year since 2014. In 2016, 70% of Vietnam’s population were classified as financially secure; the middle class increased from 7.7% in 2014 to 13.3% in 2016 (Dione, 2018).

Figure 3.

Vietnam GDP growth 1986-2018 (adapted from GSO, 2018)

Population growth, rapid urbanization, and industrialization are key drivers for waste generation in Vietnam. The growth of a middle-class population also increases unsustainable consumption, leading to higher generation of waste.