Source waste sorting: Infrastructure must be synchronized to turn 'waste into resources'

A bag of trash carefully sorted at home becomes meaningless if it is later mixed together on the collection truck. This is the major bottleneck currently facing efforts to sort domestic solid waste at the source.

This issue was the focus of discussion among experts, officials, and businesses at the workshop "Source Waste Sorting: Synchronized Infrastructure, Effective Enforcement," organized by Tuoi Tre Online in coordination with the Vietnam Packaging Recycling Organization (PRO Vietnam) on last August in Ho Chi Minh City.

In recent years, Vietnam has steadily strengthened its legal framework on waste management. The 2020 Law on Environmental Protection laid the groundwork for sorting, collecting, transporting, and treating waste. Many localities have also stepped up public communication efforts to shift residents' awareness and habits. Even so, the gap between policy and practice remains substantial.

According to journalist Nguyen Thai Binh, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Tuoi Tre Online, residents have been instructed on how to separate organic waste, inorganic waste, and other waste categories. However, many areas still lack dedicated transport vehicles, collection points, and separate collection systems for each waste type.

As a result, waste sorted at the source is, in many cases, mixed back together during transport. This not only undermines the effectiveness of sorting but also erodes public trust and motivation to participate.

Ho Kien Trung, Deputy Director of the Department of Environment under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, argued that effective waste sorting requires a shift in perspective, from viewing waste as something to be disposed of to seeing it as a resource with economic value.

According to Trung, the core issue lies not only in sorting, collection, or transport, but in finding a viable outlet for waste after it has been sorted. "Once we determine where sorted waste will be used and what value it will create, we can then work backward to design the appropriate sorting, collection, and transport methods," Trung said, noting that in practice, many localities still focus on the treatment stage without fully accounting for outlets for each waste stream, leading to situations where sorted waste ends up mixed together again.

Trung noted that organic waste such as food scraps and agricultural byproducts, as well as many types of recyclable waste, can generate economic value if properly collected and processed.

Going forward, policy will move toward giving localities greater autonomy in choosing sorting methods and identifying outlets for waste. At the same time, mechanisms for pricing waste collection services based on weight or volume will also be promoted to encourage residents to reduce waste generation and increase sorting.

Trung added that the Department of Environment also plans to build an electronic data system that would allow localities to track waste streams from generation through collection to treatment, thereby increasing transparency and management effectiveness.

Ta Dinh Thi, Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment, argued that successful source-based waste sorting requires synchronizing the entire chain, from sorting and collection to transport, recycling, and treatment.

If sorted waste is later mixed together before reaching a treatment facility, the effort invested at the initial stage is rendered almost meaningless.

According to a report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, in 2025 the country generated more than 72,000 tons of domestic solid waste per day nationwide, concentrated mainly in major urban centers such as Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

According to Thi, the biggest bottleneck at present is the lack of synchronization across the entire waste management chain. Some localities have rolled out source-sorting models, but results have varied; even models that have shown positive results still need to properly address the final treatment stage.

One key requirement is shifting from a "waste treatment" mindset to a "resource management from waste" mindset, tied to the circular economy.

Thi also noted that residents are the first link in the waste sorting chain, but communication about responsibility alone is not enough. What matters is ensuring residents clearly see the benefits of sorting and trust that separated waste will continue to be collected, transported, and treated through the proper process.

Alongside this, waste collection workers need greater attention paid to their working conditions, welfare, and work organization. This workforce is the direct link connecting households to the treatment system, yet in many places it remains fragmented.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is regarded as an important tool for advancing the circular economy. According to Thi, businesses need guidance and support to fulfill their recycling obligations in a way that is simple, transparent, and effective. At the same time, a market for recycled and reused materials needs to be gradually developed.

Service fee mechanisms based on the weight or volume of sorted waste also need to be refined to suit each locality's conditions. Such mechanisms would both provide resources for the collection and treatment system and create an incentive to reduce waste generation.

Businesses and treatment facilities also need to continue investing in technology, strengthening recycling and resource-recovery capacity, and participating more deeply in the value chain.

Many localities have already adopted composting technology, recycling, or waste treatment combined with energy recovery. Hanoi now has two waste-to-energy incineration plants in operation, helping significantly reduce the volume of waste sent to landfill.

According to Thi, a draft law amending and supplementing several articles of the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection is currently being finalized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and the Government, and is expected to be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration at the second session of the 16th National Assembly in October–November 2026.

Alongside the legal amendments, technical guidelines and economic-technical norms for domestic solid waste also need continued refinement to address the lack of synchronization among localities.