sustainability Article Understanding the Stakeholders’ Involvement in Utilizing Municipal Solid Waste in Agriculture through Composting: A Case Study of Hanoi, Vietnam Nam Phong Le 1,2,*, Thi Thu Phuong Nguyen 3,4 and Dajian Zhu 3 ID 1 College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, Siping Road 1239, Shanghai 200092, China 2 Faculty of Architecture and Planning, National University of Civil Engineering, 55 Giai phong, Hanoi 100000, Vietnam 3 Department of Public Administration, School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, Tongji Building A, Siping Road 1500, Shanghai 200092, China; [email protected] (T.T.P.N.); [email protected] (D.Z.) 4 Faculty of Economics and Rural Development, Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Trau Quy, Gia Lam, Hanoi 100000, Vietnam * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +848-6866-5488 Received: 7 June 2018; Accepted: 2 July 2018; Published: 4 July 2018 Abstract: Although the involvement of stakeholders is believed to be the key to the success of sustainable municipal waste management, the specific features of stakeholders, as well as their interdependence, have been under-researched. This study employed a multilevel governance approach to understand the manner in which different types of stakeholder networks interact with one another and how their roles should be reinforced. A combination of stakeholder analysis (SA) and social network analysis (SNA) was employed to investigate the perspective of stakeholders in utilizing municipal solid waste (MSW) in agriculture in Hanoi, Vietnam. SA indicated that the local authorities take the main responsibility for the management of MSW in Hanoi. Although other stakeholders express a significant interest in recycling MSW through composting, many of them do not have sufficient power to make any changes to the current system. SNA revealed the fragmentation of the network, as the coordination among the stakeholders is dominated by hierarchical governance, while there is a lack of horizontal cooperation among the sectors. The fragmentation could be attributed to weak legislative framework, lack of trust, financial constraints, and the limited participation of private enterprises. The governance of MSW use in agriculture should be executed through interdependency rather than hierarchy and through a network comprising both state and non-state actors. Keywords: municipal solid waste; organic waste; stakeholders; composting; social network analysis; agriculture 1. Introduction As in other cities in Asian developing countries, organic waste in Hanoi accounts for the largest proportion of the municipal solid waste (MSW). The city produces more than 6500 tonnes of solid waste per day, and the average amount of MSW generated daily per capita is 0.9 kg. It is estimated that by 2020, this figure will have reached 1.4 kg/day [1]. Its weight is increasing rapidly along with the increase in population and the rapid urbanization process of a city that has been geographically and administratively expanded [2]. Apart from bad odors and unsightliness, organic waste has also caused serious environmental degradation and negative impacts on public health [3,4]. Sustainability 2018, 10, 2314; doi:10.3390/su10072314 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability Sustainability 2018, 10, 2314 2 of 32 Utilizing urban waste in agriculture production through composting has been considered as a suitable option to cope with urban waste issues in developing countries [3–9]. This alternative may be attributed to economic, environmental, and social factors, such as the costs associated with landfilling and the transportation of waste, the pollution impacts of accumulated solid waste, public health threats, and Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) conflicts. It further helps to improve the fertility of the soil because of the large amount of organic matter contained in waste streams in these countries [10,11]. Aware of not only the threats from pollution, but also the opportunities for recycling organic waste, the government of Vietnam approved the National Strategy for Integrated Management of Solid Wastes until 2025 and Vision Towards 2050. It stresses that organic waste needs to be managed in a cycle, involving the separation of the waste, composting, and utilization of the compost in the arable land of the city. However, the question is how to translate the national strategy into the local context when a number of composting projects initiated over the past decades have failed in most developing countries [12,13]. As is the case in many other environmental situations, utilizing MSW through composting requires a holistic approach involving a range of different stakeholders. This suggests that any decision meant to improve the effectiveness of SWM must seriously consider the perceptions, interests, and roles of all the parties involved [14]. In other words, the success in solid waste management depends on the extent to which stakeholders are integrated into the management process, thus harnessing their respective resources to build collective strength with a clear division of roles and responsibilities [15]. So far, with a top-down approach, the municipal authorities of most developing countries retain a key role in the largest part of the solid waste management process [16]. The lack of the involvement of private enterprises, end-users of recycled products, local communities, and other relevant stakeholders in the waste management process is the main reason for the crisis regarding solid waste management [4,13,16]. The literature reveals that the problem of implementing sustainable municipal solid waste management lies in its practical application [17,18]. The practical issues of ability, agreement, coordination, collaboration, and obligations were discussed in the literature [5,15,16]. These problems have been associated with ineffective government policy, poor administration, failures to involve the private sector and local communities, and lack of effective communication [16,19,20]. As a result, low levels of awareness, problems with coordination and bureaucracy, the delicacy of common interests, institutional fragmentation, failure to clarify goals, and an unwillingness to make significant changes to current behavior have existed among stakeholders [13,21,22]. Where the formal problem-solving structures of government are ill-fitted to solve complex problems [23], it may be necessary to use governance networks to integrate the required distributed capacities into a problem-solving framework that is more reflexive and thus more conducive to the achievement of development goals [24]. The adoption of multilevel governance framework has proven to be useful to that end [25,26]. The main value of multilevel governance framework is that it allows for an understanding of complexity at and between levels. The vertical dimension refers to the linkages between higher and lower levels of government, while horizontal dimension focuses on the cooperation arrangement between state, market, and civil society actors. These two dimensions often coexist and link to each other [25]. The use of the governance network approach has been extensively employed to develop conceptual frameworks for addressing the field of environmental management. For example, Francesch-Huidobro [26], based on a multilevel governance perspective, set out a conceptual framework to examine the governing mechanisms through climate change mitigation and energy decisions that are made in Shanghai, China. Likewise, some have applied a social network approach to analyze natural resources governance [27], as well as MSW management [14,28]. Indeed, the development of governance networks can significantly address the common dilemmas in MSW management. For example, Taiwan has been seen as having a successful practice for targeting urban solid waste, thanks to the engagement of various stakeholders in the MSW management [29]. According to Ravetz [30], for cities to be sustainable, there is a need to move towards a situation where the through-put of resources is reduced (i.e., where it contains its own eco-cycle. This is also Sustainability 2018, 10, x FOR PEER REVIEW 3 of 33 Sustainability 2018, 10, 2314 3 of 32 According to Ravetz [30], for cities to be sustainable, there is a need to move towards a situation where the through-put of resources is reduced (i.e., where it contains its own eco-cycle. 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