Michael Duong of California Waste Solutions sees the Da Phuoc Integrated Solid Waste Facility (DPI) as more than a landfill—it’s a proving ground for Vietnam’s clean-energy ambitions. The company now wants to spend hundreds of millions expanding the 341-acre site into a 50- to 60-megawatt waste-to-energy plant, adding specialized recycling lines while relying on Vietnamese contractors for construction and daily operations. The move aligns with Vietnam’s 2050 net-zero pledge, aiming to cut residual waste burial while generating electricity from material that can’t be economically recycled.
Da Phuoc was Vietnam’s first U.S.-standard Subtitle D landfill, built in the mid-2000s under a unique agreement with Ho Chi Minh City. California Waste Solutions insisted on American environmental benchmarks—liner systems, leachate treatment, and gas collection—despite higher costs. “We are all about quality as the main driver of everything we do,” said David Duong, founder and CEO of CWS. “At the end of the day, I want to stand by what I’ve committed to doing and say, ‘This is the absolute best anyone could have done.’” That philosophy now extends to converting the site into a multi-stream resource-recovery hub.
Water management remains central to the operation. VWS treats leachate and wastewater using biological processing, membrane filtration, and reverse osmosis, reusing cleaned water for road washing, irrigation, and odor control. The company claims its effluent exceeds local waterway quality, attributing the difference to its own monitoring data. German firm Wehrle supplied key leachate-treatment technology, reinforcing the site’s reliance on international engineering standards.
Recycling and composting have been embedded in Da Phuoc’s design since its inception. Dutch equipment manufacturer Bollegraaf provides sorting lines for recyclables, while Austrian firm Komptech supplies organic-processing machinery for composting and soil amendments. These systems will remain intact under the expansion, with additional specialized recycling lines planned to complement existing infrastructure.
The site already generates power from landfill gas, enough to power its own operations. The proposed waste-to-energy plant would take this further by processing residual municipal waste before disposal, extracting energy directly rather than relying solely on decomposition gases. “The renewable proposal is consistent with our core philosophy to be constantly improving on existing resources,” said Michael Duong. The company frames this as a step toward cleaner power for Ho Chi Minh City, not just a shift in waste handling.
VWS’s approach blends imported technology with local expertise. While systems like leachate treatment and material separation come from Europe and the U.S., Vietnamese contractors—long trained by the company—will execute construction and day-to-day operations. This hybrid model could serve as a template for other Southeast Asian cities grappling with waste growth and renewable-energy targets. Da Phuoc’s evolution from a standard landfill to a clean-power and recycling complex underscores how infrastructure built for disposal can pivot toward recovery in markets where environmental standards are still catching up.