Understanding the Stakeholders' Involvement in Utilizing Municipal Solid Waste in Agriculture through Composting: A Case Study of Hanoi, Vietnam

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.