Resolutely act to respond to current outstanding environmental problems

Will use drones to monitor pollution points

The Prime Minister issued Directive No. 20/CT-TTg on a number of urgent tasks to prevent and address environmental pollution, emphasizing that environmental protection is of special concern to the Party and State, identifying, together with the socio-economy, environmental protection as an important pillar, inseparable, deciding the sustainable development of the country.

However, current reality shows that environmental issues are still on the rise, especially air pollution, water pollution, waste issues... From this reality, on September 19, Lao Dong Newspaper, under the direction of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor organized the Workers' Forum for the Environment 2025. The forum has the participation of managers, scientists and a large number of workers to discuss and propose solutions to help environmental protection work be synchronous and effective.

Sharing at the forum, Mr. Pham Hong Quan - Department of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment - said that the main source of emissions causing air pollution can be mentioned first of all as transportation. With a huge number of personal motor vehicles, many used vehicles do not meet emission standards, in addition to emissions from exhaust pipes, road dust carried by vehicles and secondary dust preparations also contribute to increased urban air pollution. The second source is industrial production. The third is the construction and incineration activities.

One of the tasks that the Department of Environment is implementing to control and improve air quality is to control open-air fuses and construction activities. Accordingly, in coordination with the National Telecommunications Administration, drones will be used to monitor the situation of straw burning in suburban areas and spreading dust from large construction sites, and immediately transfer the results to local authorities for handling.

In addition, establishing interdisciplinary inspection teams. Coordinate with Hanoi and relevant ministries to establish surprise inspection teams at construction hotspots, traffic and areas at risk of burning waste and agricultural by-products to strictly handle violations. At the same time, coordinate with media agencies, social networking platforms, and iHanoi to communicate and issue warnings when there are pollution hotspots.

Waste management after the merger

Discussing waste management, Ms. Tran Thi Thu Hien - Waste Management Department, Department of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment - said that regarding the status of domestic waste management after the merger, in 2024, the total volume of domestic waste generated nationwide will reach 69,406.53 tons/day, of which urban areas account for 53.67% and rural areas account for 46.33%. The average collection rate reached 90.7%, urban areas alone reached 97.28% (exceeding the target set by the National Assembly).

Currently, the country has 1,549 domestic solid waste treatment facilities, but most of them still rely on landfill (64%), while modern technology such as waste incineration for power generation, biological incubation or recycling accounts for a low proportion.

In addition to the issue of awareness in waste classification among people, Ms. Hien informed that after the merger, the amount of waste increased rapidly, many localities encountered difficulties due to expanded areas but the infrastructure for collection, transportation and treatment has not been adjusted in a timely manner, leading to overload.

To improve management efficiency, Ms. Hien proposed many groups of solutions. In particular, it is necessary to improve policies, clarify responsibilities and increase sanctions in waste management. Invest in collecting infrastructure, protecting workers, applying modern technology. Encourage garbage burning to generate electricity, recycle, and reduce landfill.

Promote classification at source and collection supervision. Promote the role of workers through training, green movements, and environmental emulation. Socializing investment, applying EPR, international cooperation. Raising public awareness through communication, education and the all-people movement.

Mr. Tran Quang Anh - Head of Urenco Technical Planning Department, Hoan Kiem branch - proposed a series of solutions for infrastructure investment and technology equipment applied in waste classification, collection and treatment.

According to Mr. Anh, environmental sanitation units need to invest in modern equipment, replace open-top collector vehicles with closed composite boxes, use specialized electric vehicles, build transit infrastructure and a waste classification system at source. At the same time, apply digital technology such as GPS, AI, IoT to optimize collection routes, monitor trash bins, coordinate automatically and implement electronic cleaning fee collection.

Human factors play a key role: Sanitation workers need to be professional, knowledgeable about technology and law; people dump garbage at the right time and place; the community actively participates in the general cleaning movement. Along with that, it is necessary to strengthen socialization, develop the PPP model, mobilize technology enterprises and institutes to research and deploy advanced treatment solutions.

On the part of State management, it is necessary to issue procedures and service norms in accordance with actual costs...

For agencies, organizations, and communities, it is necessary to promote diverse propaganda, build model points in schools and residential areas, integrate urban order content, attach environmental criteria to personnel evaluation, and maintain the "Green weekend" movement as a cultural feature.

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