But after many months, in many residential areas, organic waste, recycled waste and remaining waste are still piled together in one bag.
The correct policy is facing a reality that the way of doing things is not synchronized enough for people to implement.
It is impossible to put a few trash cans and wait for a habit that has existed for decades to naturally change.
People cannot sort if they are not clearly guided. People will find it even more difficult to maintain if they are asked to dispose of garbage separately today, and tomorrow the collection trucks collect it all at the same place.
Those who do right will be discouraged, those who do wrong will have even more reason to continue.
Therefore, Hanoi's problem is not just awareness, it is the problem of an entire system.
Each type of population also needs a suitable organization, houses in deep alleys cannot operate like street-front houses; high-rise apartments cannot be built according to the collection model of low-rise residential areas. This is where grassroots authorities must get involved in substance, not just propagate with posters.
Even offices, schools, and public places lack classification boxes, it is difficult to demand that people form good habits.
But the decisive step behind the trash can is collection and treatment.
If the waste has been sorted but when collected, it is mixed together, the entire effort ahead is almost eliminated.
The payment mechanism for collection units also needs to be recalculated in the direction of encouraging sorting quality, recycling rate and treatment efficiency, instead of just caring about how many tons of garbage can be collected.
Economic momentum is sometimes stronger than hundreds of slogans.
It is also necessary to say frankly, it is not possible to just call on people to be conscious and avoid sanctions.
Places that do not have infrastructure and have not been fully guided must continue to be supported. But places that have been propagated, have arranged conditions and still intentionally violate must be handled according to regulations.
The ultimate goal must be to reduce the amount of waste to be cleared, increase the amount of waste to be reused, recycled and treated properly.
Waste sorting at source is not a short-term campaign, but a change in the way people live, government management, and service providers.
Hanoi does not lack slogans about a green and clean city, what is lacking is a clear, convenient, and truly serious mechanism to turn slogans into daily behavior.
A mixed bag of trash is a small failure for each family, but millions of mixed bags of trash are failure for the entire waste management system.
