There is only one common garbage pipe, how do people know how to classify it?
At an apartment complex located on Vu Pham Ham Street (Cau Giay, Hanoi), households still cannot classify garbage due to the building's "common pipe" mechanism.
Ms. Hoang Thi Hen - a resident of this apartment building - shared that each household here uses a common garbage pipe between floors. The garbage will be collected by residents at the end of the day, then brought to the pipe and dumped so that it automatically falls into the common trash bin in the storage area at the foot of the apartment building.
Ms. Ngo Lan Anh's family - currently living in a rented house in alley 562 Lang street (Dong Da, Hanoi) - also cannot collect garbage because there are not enough bins to classify trash according to regulations.
Ms. Anh shared: "The requirement of 3 types of trash cans is very difficult for urban households because of limited housing space. My family only sorts 2 types: food waste and scrap metal. However, when sorting separately, the trash is often dug up or collected together, forcing us to return to the old way of sorting."
According to Lao Dong Newspaper from January 1-3, 2025, right at the headquarters of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DONRE) on Huynh Thuc Khang Street (Dong Da, Hanoi), the implementation of waste classification at source (PLRTN) is also not consistent. Many 3-compartment trash bins are still wrapped in nylon bags, the bins put into use are empty and waste is thrown haphazardly at the foot of the bins. All waste is then collected into a large garbage truck located near the parking area.
As one of the famous units in Ho Chi Minh City specializing in purchasing scrap, collecting and classifying waste from businesses, state agencies and households in large quantities, Mr. Nguyen Van Tien - founder of the Ve chai Chu Hoa group - said that the number of households is too large, while the waste is of many types, so it takes a lot of time to classify clearly.
Based on many years of experience, Mr. Tien assessed that currently the problem of garbage collection at households still faces many shortcomings.
"Even if people clearly classify waste at source, if the locality does not have an effective, systematic, and meticulous collection system, the classification of people is really meaningless," said Mr. Tien.
Currently, Mr. Tien's team has 17 people to process about 5 tons of garbage per day.
To be effective, you need to go step by step.
According to Associate Professor, Dr. Le Hung Anh - Institute of Science, Technology and Environmental Management, in order for the PLRTN process to be effective, it needs to be implemented step by step instead of being done massively as it is now.
"In classifying waste, it is important to have a suitable roadmap and depending on the capacity of each locality. Instead of dividing into 3 types, initially it should only be divided into 2 types: recyclable and the remaining type. Or for localities with waste-to-energy projects, it should be divided into burnable and non-burnable types. After a long enough time to form such a habit, then move to phase 2, which is more advanced and detailed, dividing waste into 3-4 types" - Associate Professor, Dr. Le Hung Anh proposed.
The Institute of Science, Technology and Environmental Management also noted that in order to have a suitable roadmap for each different region, each locality needs to review each region, find effective models in places where PLRTN has been successfully implemented, and then research, adjust and apply them appropriately.
Besides, along with encouraging PLRTN, an important solution is to reorganize and upgrade the means and infrastructure serving waste collection and treatment.
Regarding the issue of collecting classified waste, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Hang - Deputy Director of Urenco Hoan Kiem Branch - said that this process cannot be synchronized and replicated because there are no regulations on specific economic norms for companies and units to apply.
The Deputy Director of Urenco Hoan Kiem said that for households with small areas, they can use colored nylon bags according to regulations to classify garbage. For collection, people can use the application on their phones to schedule free garbage collection and the collection workers will come to collect the classified garbage from each household.
According to Mr. Vo Van Quang, representative of Toan Quoc Environmental Technical Service Trading Company Limited (operating in Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City), garbage collection units are facing many difficulties because they have not received detailed instructions from management levels. Therefore, they continue to collect garbage as before.
“People, especially in narrow areas, have difficulty finding enough space to store three different types of waste. For the collection unit, collecting three types of waste on the same day using a compactor truck is currently not feasible,” said Mr. Quang.
Mr. Quang further explained that most of the recyclable waste has been collected by scrap collectors. His unit only collects food waste and other household waste. If both types are collected in the same truck, the classification becomes meaningless.
Mr. Quang suggested that the city should have detailed instructions on how to handle each type of waste, and specialized means of transport for each type, such as specialized vehicles for food waste.
Ho Chi Minh City generates about 13,000 tons of household waste every day, of which 3,000 tons are recyclable and processed through market mechanisms. The remainder is collected and transferred to the city's treatment plants.
