At present, thanks to the 3R project, around 14 tonnes of organic rubbish is collected a day in four wards in Hanoi: Phan Chu Trinh, Nguyen Du, Thanh Cong and Lang Ha. This volume of organic waste is processed into fertiliser at the Cau Dien Rubbish Processing Plant. This diverts more than 400 tonnes of rubbish a month away from Hanoi’s Nam Son dumping ground.

The 3R project will be carried out on a trial basis in some more wards and communes in the districts of Tay Ho, Cau Giay, Thanh Xuan, Hoang Mai, Long Bien, Tu Liem, Gia Lam, Thanh Tri, Dong Anh and Soc Son. If this project is implemented well, it will help reduce 30 percent of Hanoi’s buried rubbish volume.

According to 3R project’s representative, rubbish classification will be expanded in Hoan Kiem District in 2010 and in four central districts in 2013, in all nine urban districts and several outskirt communes in 2015.

Waste classification will be carried out in the whole city by 2020 to cut the volume of buried rubbish by 70 percent.

Hanoi, which was once considered “a city of green trees,” is facing an environmental catastrophe due to inadequate resolve in dealing with household rubbish. In this situation, a technical assistance project entitled “Implementing the 3R initiative in Hanoi to contribute to a sustainable social development” was devised and implemented.

The 3R Project, the first of its kind in Vietnam, has received due investment and is considered an effective solution. It is supported by the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA).

Although the project has been implemented on a trial basis in only four wards of Hanoi, it has thus far yielded good results.