Towards Cleaner Production in Craft Villages

According to the most recent statistics from the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade, 70 percent of the machinery and tools being used in these villages are primitive, while modern ones can only be found in villages producing knitting, sewing, porcelain and ceramics products. In addition, sewage water treatment in the villages is not given due attention.

 

The pollution not only affects people living in these villages, but also those living in the neighbourhood. According to a survey of 52 craft villages conducted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, 46 percent of the villages are heavily polluted and environmental quality at most villages is not up to standard, creating health risks for workers, of which 95 percent comes from dust, 85.9 percent from heat and 59.6 percent from chemical agents. In Hanoi, regarded as “the land of hundreds of types of jobs,” with 272 product-specific villages, environmental pollution has become a more pressing issue over the last few years.

 

The benefits that rural industrial production brings are tremendous. Many new jobs are created for local people; Government’s Budget is supplemented with new stream of revenue and the local economy enjoys a healthy growth rate. Although this is an efficient model of rural development, application of clean technology should be employed in order to protect the environment and reach sustainable development. The application of cleaner production technology to reduce pollution and increase economic efficiency is one of the focuses of the clean production campaign on a national scale.

 

In 2007, the collaboration between the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Global Environment Fund led to the initiation of a project to improve energy efficiency, which has so far born fruit. For example, porcelain-producing Bat Trang Village in the past consumed around 800 tonnes of coal every day, releasing toxic gases such as CO, SO2, H2S, silica dust and solid waste. At the moment, Bat Trang has more than 400 households using porcelain ovens heated by liquid gas, significantly reducing waste products and pollution compared to the previously used coal ovens. This success has a far-reaching effect. Households involved in the project which succeeded with the energy-saving model have encouraged others to do the same. As a result, the village has currently 131 households using the upgraded gas oven technology. The fact that more than 90 percent of households producing porcelain switched to the new technology, helping reduce energy consumption and environmental pollution compared to prior technology, and created about 4,000 new jobs for local people. Annual village revenue averages VND400 billion, VND22 million per person and 2-3 times higher profit than previously.

 

The introduction of clean production activities in Resolution 45/2012/ND-CP dated May 21, 2012 regards supporting industrial production as completely appropriate. According to Mr Phan Van Ban, Deputy Head of the local Department of Industry under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the most noticeable revision in this draft of the Resolution is the introduction of clean production strategies into industrial production activities in order to encourage cleaner production at industrial sites to improve the efficient utilisation of resources, raw materials and energy; reduce waste release and pollution, and protect and improve the environmental quality as well as people’s health and create a strong foundation for sustainable development.

 

The largest barrier to the application of clean technology at the villages is the availability of funds. Since it requires significant initial investment, the majority of small and extremely size businesses cannot afford to employ clean technology in their production. The Resolution is expected to encourage cleaner production at production sites in order to reduce pollution at industrial clusters and rural industrial production facilities.