California Waste Solutions advances Vietnam waste-to-energy expansion

California Waste Solutions and its Vietnam subsidiary are moving ahead with a proposed 50- to 60-megawatt waste-to-energy project at the Da Phuoc complex outside Ho Chi Minh City. The plan would expand an existing landfill, recycling and power-recovery system as Vietnam works toward its 2050 net-zero target.

Why it matters: - The proposed Da Phuoc expansion would turn an already major waste site into a larger clean-power and resource-recovery complex. - The project is designed to reduce the amount of municipal waste sent to long-term burial while generating electricity from material that cannot be economically reused or recycled. - The move supports Vietnam's 2050 net-zero target and could strengthen Ho Chi Minh City's waste and environmental infrastructure.

What happened: - Vietnam Waste Solutions, the wholly owned Vietnamese subsidiary of Oakland-based California Waste Solutions, is pursuing a 50- to 60-megawatt waste-to-energy project at the Da Phuoc Integrated Solid Waste Facility outside Ho Chi Minh City. - The company is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to further the country's net-zero goals by expanding the Da Phuoc complex. - VWS formally proposed the conversion enhancement this year and is working through appraisal and permitting. - The Da Phuoc landfill receives up to 6,500 tons of municipal solid waste a day, or about 2.4 million tons a year. - The site handles more than half of the household waste generated by Ho Chi Minh City residents.

The details: - The 341-acre Da Phuoc landfill was the first U.S.-standard waste landfill built in Vietnam in the mid-2000s. - About $200 million has already been invested in the existing Da Phuoc environmental complex. - The new plan adds a waste-to-energy plant and specialized recycling lines to systems already operating on site. - Da Phuoc already produces electricity from captured landfill gas, and that power supports operations at the complex. - CWS will run the energy systems, while Vietnamese contractors will handle day-to-day construction and operations. - VWS says it has spent years training and working with those contractors. - The original landfill was built with environmentally friendly liner systems, a landfill leachate plant and gas-collection hardware sourced from the United States. - The liner system isolates waste from surrounding soil and groundwater. - Leachate is collected and directed to treatment systems instead of moving uncontrolled through the site. - Gas from decomposing waste is captured and used for electricity. - VWS operates leachate and wastewater treatment systems that use biological processing, membrane filtration and reverse osmosis. - Treated water is reused for road and equipment washing, dust control, irrigation, odor management and other facility needs. - VWS says treated water leaving its process is cleaner than water measured in nearby local waterways, based on its operating and water-quality data. - German environmental engineering company Wehrle has supplied leachate-treatment technology. - Bollegraaf provides sorting, separation and processing equipment for recycling and material recovery. - Komptech supplies equipment for organic grinding, turning, aerating and screening used in composting and soil amendments. - Existing recycling systems are meant to complement, not replace, the waste-to-energy project. - The site has also operated composting systems for years.

Between the lines: - The Da Phuoc project is as much an infrastructure and operating model story as an energy story. - CWS built the site around imported environmental technology, but the operating workforce has shifted over time to Vietnamese specialists. - VWS says the site is now staffed almost entirely by Vietnamese employees, with one U.S. employee remaining on site. - The expansion also reflects a broader push to recover value from waste streams before landfill disposal. - David Duong framed the project as part of a long-term strategy built around environmental innovation and circular systems. - CWS and VWS have used Da Phuoc as a platform for additional work, including the Long An Green Environmental Technology Park. - That project is intended to combine waste treatment, recycling, resource recovery, energy production and related green infrastructure.

What's next: - VWS will continue appraisal and permitting for the waste-to-energy conversion at Da Phuoc. - Construction and operational planning will move forward with Vietnamese contractors and CWS technical oversight. - The company is also developing the Long An Green Environmental Technology Park as a separate long-term project. - CWS and VWS say the Da Phuoc model will keep evolving around material recovery, water control, gas capture and energy generation.

The bottom line: - California Waste Solutions is trying to turn Vietnam's largest waste burden at Da Phuoc into a larger circular-economy asset, with landfill, recycling and power generation working as one system.