Formosa Plant in Vietnam Ha Tinh Discharges over 3M Tons of Solid Waste/Yr

Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Co., Ltd in Vietnam’s central province of Ha Tinh, an affiliate of Taiwanese Formosa Plastic Corp., annually discharges over 3.36 million tons of solid waste, the state-run Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper said, citing a report by local police. The waste, discharged from production activities, is classified into 14 groups with 64 categories and thousands of titles, according to the report. The classification of waste from Formosa’s plant is conducted by private units hired by Formosa and licensed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE), without double-checking from competent agencies. Formosa has not reported results on criteria exceeding the allowed levels to authorities, the report said. Regarding Formosa’s plan to invest in a rotary hearth furnace (RHF) to extract zinc and iron oxide from the dust and slime, local police said the technology’s efficiency is at only 30%-70%. Formosa has not evaluated other toxic substances such as lead, which is harmful to the environment. The local police proposed the MoNRE and relevant agencies to tighten the supervision on Formosa’s waste classification and discharge. In response, the Environment Administration, under the MoNRE, affirmed that the ministry has kept interdisciplinary supervision at Formosa since July 2016. All solid waste discharged from the plant’s blast-furnace No.1 meets Vietnam’s standards and is managed in line with laws, the administration added. The plant’s granulated blast-furnace slag is conformed as construction materials (for sales or use at Formosa), flying ash is regarded as materials for concrete production, plaster is used as materials for cement production, and bottom ash is considered supplements for cement. Meanwhile, the plant’s steel slag conforms standards from Japan, the UK, and Vietnam, for use as materials in cement production and road construction, under guidelines from the Ministry of Construction, the administration said. (Tuoi Tre, Tuoi Tre)