Economic Assessment of Sanitation Interventions in Vietnam - WSP

Economic Assessment of Sanitation Interventions in Vietnam | National Benefits of Improved Sanitation and HygieneThe responses of beverage companies on location focusedon market factors, such as GDP growth and other marketpotential. Although these firms confirmed the importanceof having clean water supply for beer and other drink production,they said they would expand their business in Vietnamanyway. They also said improved sanitation standardsand regulations would not adversely affect their business inthe country.The following general conclusions can be made from thebusiness survey. First, firms assigned different levels of importanceto the environmental sanitation situation. The hotelbusiness considered environmental sanitation conditionsto be most important for all criteria: workforce health, waterquality from sources, pleasant environment for the staffto live, and availability of cheap and good land. The qualityof water sources is considered the most important criterionfor firms working in beverage production and consumergoods. Consulting firms prefer to select a location wheretheir staff can experience a pleasant environment, whichshould increase competitiveness. Sanitation improvementmeans more business opportunities for almost all of thefirms.5.3 SANITATION MARKETWherever it is used as fertilizer, the availability of nutrientsfrom human excreta can lead to the replacement of chemicalfertilizer, which saves costs (Werner C. et al, 2003).Furthermore, where fertilizer was not previously being usedoptimally, the nutritional content and economic value ofcrops may increase. Moreover, there are long-term benefitsto reducing the use of chemical and mineral fertilizers, especiallytaking into account the fact that some fossil resourcesare in increasingly short supply (e.g. phosphorous - see Box6). Alternatively, families with livestock may invest in abiogas digester, which provides bio-fuel for cooking, spaceheating and lighting.The reuse of human waste for fertilizer or biogas productioncannot be assumed to be population-wide, given culturalattitudes towards the handling and reuse of human waste,and low practical feasibility in many locations. Success oftendepends on local perceptions of the expected returnson re-use of human waste, whether for biogas or fertilizer.The number of households reusing human and animal fecesfor biogas and fertilizer purposes were determined from thelocation surveys and FGDs. The study estimated weight offecal matter and volume of gas produced, and the economicvalue of these products using local market prices.Biogas could also bring other benefits to the country. Thereduction in greenhouse gas emissions from biogas activitiesqualifies for ‘carbon credits’ under the Clean DevelopmentMechanism (CDM) of the United Nations FrameworkConvention on Climate Change. These credits can besold on the international market, resulting in revenue forthe country. Each biogas tank is equivalent to 2 credits thatcan be sold at 6 Euro each. According to the biogas project(MARD and SNV), biogas can bring about 1.8 millionEuro per year from 150,000 biogas tanks. Table 46 presentsa rough estimate of potential reuse values of waste from thewhole country as calculated from the ESI-1 study.TABLE 46: INPUT VALUES FOR ESTIMATION OF RETURNS TO REUSE OF HUMAN (AND ANIMAL) WASTEItems Unit Urban Rural TotalTotal households (HH) HHs 5.4 million 13.9 million 19.4 million% HHs applying Ecosan % 0.1% 1% 0.75%Number of HHs applying Ecosan HHs 5,400 139,200 144,660Human waste per year Kg/year 2.2 million 58.3 million 60.5 millionAnimal waste per year Kg/year 0 8.7 billion 8.7 billionTotal waste to be used for biogas Kg/year 2.2 million 8.8 billion 11.0 billion% to be used as fertilizer % 60% 60% 60%Amount of fertilizer Kg 1.3 million 5.3 billion 6.6 billionVolume of gas Liters 650,000 2,600 million 3,225 millionSource: ESI-1 study (WSP, 2009).www.wsp.org73