Garbage piles up beneath Định Công Bridge in Hà Nội. VNA/VNS Photo Phương Anh

Nearly four years after the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection officially came into force on January 1, 2022, waste sorting and treatment in many localities remain plagued by challenges and shortcomings.

Despite new regulations, household waste is still largely classified on paper only, while in reality rubbish continues to be dumped indiscriminately in many places, with landfilling remaining the dominant method of disposal.

According to the Department of Environment under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MAE), before the recent administrative mergers of provinces and cities, only 34 out of 63 provinces and cities had introduced waste-sorting programmes, most of them small-scale pilots that have not been widely expanded. Coordination between ministries and local authorities has also been patchy, with little focus on urgent solutions to ensure the necessary conditions for solid waste management.

Before the mergers, 33 provinces/cities had yet to issue regulations on sorting domestic waste in line with the ministry’s guidelines. Meanwhile, 59 provinces had not issued technical and economic standards for waste collection and treatment, with only a handful, including Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu Province (now part of HCM City), Bình Định, Lạng Sơn and Long An, doing so. In addition, 58 localities had not set service fees for the collection, transport and disposal of household waste -- an essential condition for effective implementation.

Rules in place

The 2020 Law on Environmental Protection stipulates that waste classification at source must be implemented nationwide no later than December 31, 2024. From January 1, 2025, people who fail to classify waste will face administrative penalties.

“Sorting, recycling and reusing waste at source, as required by the law, are key measures to reduce pollution, avoid wasting valuable resources and save tens of millions of US dollars annually in disposal costs,” Hồ Kiên Trung, deputy director of the Department of Environment, said.

The significance of this provision has increased since January 1, 2025, when penalties for failing to separate waste at source officially took effect nationwide. Yet in practice, waste separation remains sporadic. In many apartment complexes, residents continue to throw mixed rubbish into communal bins, which sanitation workers then transport directly to landfill sites, with only a small proportion incinerated.

More troubling still, in some areas rubbish is dumped illegally on pavements, spilling onto roads. Alongside domestic waste, abandoned furniture, mattresses and even hazardous materials are frequently found. This not only damages urban aesthetics and pollutes the environment but also obstructs traffic and daily life.

Figures from the MAE’s Department of Waste Management show that in 2024 Việt Nam generated more than 69,400 tonnes of household waste per day, with cities accounting for 53.7 per cent and rural areas 46.3 per cent.

Although there are 1,549 waste treatment facilities nationwide, most still rely on landfilling (around 64 per cent). More advanced methods such as waste-to-energy incineration, composting and recycling remain underutilised.

Following the mergers of provinces and cities, waste volumes have risen sharply. Many localities now face difficulties as their territories expand but collection and treatment infrastructure has not kept pace, leading to overloading. Technical infrastructure remains inadequate, transport costs are rising steeply, and unhygienic landfill sites continue to pose major challenges.

Recent oversight missions by the National Assembly’s supervisory delegation have acknowledged some progress with pilot projects for waste separation, improved policies and stronger collection capacity. However, overall implementation remains inconsistent, hampered by limited infrastructure, finance, manpower, and community participation.

A sanitation worker collects household waste on Trần Đại Nghĩa Street, Hà Nội. VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Hiếu

Next steps

Nguyễn Thị Mai Phương, deputy chairwoman of the National Assembly’s Committee for Legal and Judicial Affairs, said that household waste management, especially sorting at source, would require a comprehensive and compatible approach with a clear roadmap.

She called for an urgent review and update of regulations under the law, alongside the development of technical procedures and pricing frameworks for collection and treatment.

“These are the tools to enforce the principle of ‘polluter pays’, ensuring accurate fees, generating reinvestment for environmental protection and providing clear guidance to localities on how to organise waste sorting at source,” she said.

She also urged the establishment of a legal framework and timetable for transitioning to advanced treatment technologies such as waste-to-energy incineration, recycling and composting.

Mobilising private sector investment, expanding public–private partnerships and introducing tax policies on certain products and packaging to offset disposal costs were also recommended.

Nguyễn Hữu Dũng, director of the Việt Nam Institute for Urban and Industrial Environment, said that reducing landfill use would be a strategic necessity given the acute shortage of urban land.

Even mountainous provinces struggled to find replacement sites, he said.

He suggested that newly merged provinces should take the opportunity to rationalise regional waste treatment infrastructure.

Although some localities had begun adopting modern technologies, progress remained limited.

Dũng also said that technology transfer must be tailored to each locality’s conditions, supported by diversified resources, inter-provincial cooperation and regional linkages.

He proposed developing eco-industrial zones where waste can be recycled and reused within production chains, a model successfully applied in many countries.

From the regulatory side, Dương Thị Thanh Xuyến, deputy head of the Waste Management Office under the Department of Environment, said that effective waste management could not rely on a single solution.

She added that the MAE was continuing to refine the legal framework, encourage public participation in waste sorting and work with local authorities to address obstacles.

The ministry was also expediting the issuance of service fees, technical standards for collection and disposal and promoting modern technologies and digital tools to develop a full-fledged waste treatment and recycling industry. VNS