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Assessing potential health impacts of waste recovery and reuse business models in Hanoi, Vietnam

International Journal of Public Health volume 62, pages 7–16 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

Objectives

In resource-constrained settings, the recovery of nutrients and the production of energy from liquid and solid waste are important. We determined the range and magnitude of potential community health impacts of six solid and liquid waste recovery and reuse business models in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Methods

We employed a health impact assessment (HIA) approach using secondary data obtained from various sources supplemented with primary data collection. For determining the direction (positive or negative) and magnitude of potential health impacts in the population, a semiquantitative impact assessment was pursued.

Results

From a public health perspective, wastewater reuse for inland fish farming, coupled with on-site water treatment has considerable potential for individual and community-level health benefits. One of the business models investigated (i.e. dry fuel manufacturing with agro-waste) resulted in net negative health impacts.

Conclusions

In Hanoi, the reuse of liquid and solid waste—as a mean to recover water and nutrients and to produce energy—has considerable potential for health benefits if appropriately managed and tailored to local contexts. Our HIA methodology provides an evidence-based decision-support tool for identification and promotion of business models for implementation in Hanoi.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the workers and staff of the Hanoi Urban Environment One Member Limited Company (URENCO) and Hanoi Sewerage and Drainage Limited Company (HSDC) for their kind cooperation and participation in the study. We appreciate the institutional involvement of the Center for Public Health and Ecosystem Research (CENPHER), Hanoi School of Public Health. We are grateful to project partners from the resource recovery and reuse project; namely, the World Health Organization (Geneva, Switzerland), the Department of Water and Sanitation in Developing Countries, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Dübendorf, Switzerland), the International Water Management Institute (Colombo, Sri Lanka) and the International Centre for Water Management Services (Willisau, Switzerland). This study received financial support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC; Bern, Switzerland). Hung Nguyen-Viet has been supported by the CGIAR Research Program (CRP) on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, P.O. Box, CH-4002, Basel, Switzerland

    Mirko S. Winkler, Samuel Fuhrimann, Guéladio Cissé & Jürg Utzinger

  2. University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Mirko S. Winkler, Samuel Fuhrimann, Guéladio Cissé & Jürg Utzinger

  3. Center for Public Health and Ecosystem Research, Hanoi School of Public Health, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Phuc Pham-Duc & Hung Nguyen-Viet

  4. International Livestock Research Institute, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Hung Nguyen-Viet

Authors
  1. Mirko S. Winkler
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  2. Samuel Fuhrimann
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  3. Phuc Pham-Duc
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  4. Guéladio Cissé
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  5. Jürg Utzinger
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  6. Hung Nguyen-Viet
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mirko S. Winkler.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

Mirko S. Winkler declares that he has no conflict of interest. Samuel Fuhrimann declares that he has no conflict of interest. Phuc Pham-Duc declares that he has no conflict of interest. Guéladio Cissé declares that he has no conflict of interest. Jürg Utzinger declares that he has no conflict of interest. Hung Nguyen-Viet declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Funding

This study was funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC; Bern, Switzerland).

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Ethical approval for the research was obtained from the Hanoi School of Public Health (Hanoi, Vietnam; reference no. 010/2014/YTCC-HD3) and the ethics committee of the cantons of Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft (EKBB; reference no. 137/13). Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

This article is part of the supplement: “Health and social determinants of health in Vietnam: Local evidence and international implications”.

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Winkler, M.S., Fuhrimann, S., Pham-Duc, P. et al. Assessing potential health impacts of waste recovery and reuse business models in Hanoi, Vietnam. Int J Public Health 62 (Suppl 1), 7–16 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-016-0877-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-016-0877-x

Keywords

  • Business models
  • Health impact assessment
  • Resource recovery and reuse
  • Sanitation safety planning
  • Vietnam