Background
The Viet Nam Cleaner Production Centre (VNCPC) was established in 1998 within the framework of the UNIDO/UNEP NCPC project¹ . In the meantime the VNCPC has finalised its first phase of existence by the end of 2004 and started with the consolidating phase that lasts until 2007. The centre is located at Hanoi University of Technology (HUT) at the Institute for Environmental Science and Technology and employs currently some 18 people. The vision of the VNCPC is to play a catalytic and coordinating role as national focal point for the promotion and implementation of eco-efficient industrial production techniques in small and medium sized enterprises (Cleaner Production or CP), but also in the education of consultants and students. Furthermore the VNCPC actively participates in policy advice to the government for strengthening CP aspects in environmental strategy of Vietnam. The set-up of the VNCPC has been financed through a contribution of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (seco) of Switzerland.

Within the framework of the project’s consolidating phase the Swiss Institute for Ecopreneurship of the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) supports the VNCPC as so called “Reference Centre” for the international provision of training, technical information, management services and know-how on clean technologies. Among other activities FHNW supports Vietnamese students during the realization of their Master theses in Switzerland.

Main target of the student training is the know-how transfer between Switzerland and Vietnam that can be adopted by the HUT/VNCPC afterwards, enabling them to transfer a broader range of services to their industrial customers. Therefore the Master students elaborate their theses on two current topics each year in the range of the environmental services of HUT/VNCPC. In 2006 FHNW will support two students on the topics listed below.

Treatment of textile dyeing baths with membrane technology for reuse of water and chemicals
The textile industry is among the largest industries in the world with regard to production and labour and has also great importance in Vietnam. It encompasses a typical variation in scale; from large scale mechanized to small scale traditional units. It is characterized not only by the vast quantity of water and energy required, but also by the variety of chemical used.
Amongst the contributions to waste, liquid waste tends to dominate over air emissions and solid wastes in terms of severity of environmental impact. Solid waste generated from fabric rejects, containers, bags etc. Liquid wastes that arise from the various washing operations contain a substantial pollution load in terms of organic matter and suspended matter such as fibres and grease. Some of the chemicals discharged can have toxic effects on the receiving environment. Such effluents can cause lowering of dissolved oxygen and threads to aquatic life due to toxicity. Occupational health and operational safety are therefore also important issues to be considered.

Especially contaminated waste water is a current problem in Vietnam. Normally Vietnamese companies are not equipped with proper waste water treatment processes. Thus the environmental burden is high and the financial losses due to excessive water and chemical consumption tremendous. Vietnamese companies may not be able to comply with international regulations and standards when they go competing globally thus bounding their entrance into world market. A substantial change in technology application would sustain many jobs that are not guaranteed at present.

During the Master thesis especially the textile dyeing process will be focused on. This process has in comparison to subsequent ones a significant higher environmental impact due to the loss of water, dyestuff and chemicals to surface water. The Master thesis will investigate and assess appropriate membrane technologies to treat dyeing baths in order to reuse water, auxiliary chemicals and/or dyestuff. That way the environmental impact can be lowered significantly as well as the cost of waste chemicals.

Recycling of electronic scrap: recovery of valuable metals from printed circuit boards
The development of the electronics industry has led to an increase not only in the production of new goods but also in the scrap generated and the volume of waste material left after the lifetime of these goods. In particular, the rapid growth in information and telecommunications technology has led to an improvement in the capacity of computers but simultaneously to a decrease in the product’s lifetime, such that the volume of waste generated is increasing annually. The appropriate treatment and disposal of these waste products poses a serious challenge in Vietnam.

Along with the many valuable metals contained in waste computers and other electronic scrap, there are toxic heavy metals that pose a serious environmental threat unless proper treatment of these wastes is carried out². Additionally, disposal of these wastes results in depletion of raw materials. Therefore it is important to continue research on the possibility and practicability of recovering valuable metals from electronic scrap and especially from printed circuit boards.

The Master thesis investigates and assesses appropriate techniques for recycling of printed circuit boards. In particular the recovery of valuable metals will be looked at. The characterisation and quantification of metals will be done by instrumental analysis for which methods have to be developed. It is foreseen to summarize, evaluate and optimise the most appropriate recovery techniques and methods for Vietnamese purposes and to transfer the findings to HUT/VNCPC. The special recycling working group at HUT will follow-up with the method on pilot scale in order to implement it afterwards in the recycling industry.

Contact
University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW)
Institute for Ecopreneurship (IEC)
St. Jakobs-Strasse 84
CH-4132 Muttenz / Switzerland
Project manager: Mr. Jürg Walder
Tel 0041-61-467 43 14, Email: juerg.walder@fhnw.ch
http://www.fhnw.ch/
http://www.fhbb.ch/environment
http://www.cleanerproduction.ch