Chinese-invested plant powers Hanoi's green transition
A remarkable ecological revival is unfolding in Trung Gia commune on Hanoi’s outskirts, where sprawling golden rice fields now flourish under the summer sun. The lush, fertile landscape marks a complete transformation of the area, which was once a heavily polluted urban waste dump, thanks to the operational upgrade of Hanoi’s China-invested Soc Son waste-to-energy plant.
Before the launch of the modern environmental facility, the suburban site suffered from severe garbage accumulation and persistent pollution issues that plagued the local ecological environment for years. The official commissioning of the waste-to-energy project has thoroughly eliminated long-standing environmental hazards, turning the former waste landfill into viable farmland and realizing a fundamental improvement in regional ecological conditions.
Put into official service in 2022 and operated by a Chinese-invested environmental energy joint stock company in Hanoi, the Soc Son waste-to-energy plant stands as a pivotal green infrastructure project serving Vietnam’s capital. The facility undertakes large-scale centralized treatment of urban domestic waste, with all generated clean electricity integrated into Vietnam’s national power grid to supplement the city’s energy supply.
According to official environmental statistics, Hanoi, home to 8.8 million residents, generates approximately 8,500 metric tons of household waste on a daily basis, of which 7,600 metric tons are collected for centralized professional treatment. Currently, the Soc Son waste-to-energy plant processes around 5,000 metric tons of the city’s daily domestic waste, accounting for the majority of Hanoi’s centralized waste disposal volume. It has greatly elevated the capital’s urban waste management efficiency, standardized local solid waste treatment procedures, and resolved the city’s long-term garbage disposal bottleneck.
Beyond evident ecological improvements, the Sino-cooperative green project has delivered comprehensive social and economic benefits, while facilitating local industrial technological upgrading and talent development. Through systematic technical guidance and standardized operational training provided by Chinese professional teams, local operational and technical teams have steadily mastered mature waste incineration and power generation technologies, forming a professional talent pool for Vietnam’s environmental protection and new energy sectors.
The innovative waste-to-energy model achieves efficient resource recycling by converting urban solid waste into clean power, effectively turning urban environmental pressure into sustainable economic and ecological dividends. In addition to optimizing Hanoi’s urban ecological governance system, the project serves as an important platform for practical technological exchanges and industrial technology transfer between China and Vietnam’s environmental and new energy industries.
Backed by years of technological iteration and global engineering practice, Chinese environmental energy enterprises have built world-leading expertise and technological strengths in solid waste management and green energy utilization. With mature, replicable technical systems and operational experience, Chinese partners are capable of promoting the widespread application of green waste-to-energy solutions across developing countries, supporting global ecological governance, sustainable economic development and livelihood improvement through green technological empowerment.
Source: Chinese-invested plant powers Hanoi's green transition - Chinadaily.com.cn