Circular on Economic Standards and Techniques for Solid Waste Treatment

By 2024, the Ministry of Resources and Environment (MONRE) will issue a Circular issuing economic and technical standards for collecting, transporting, and treating solid waste. Currently, the Department focuses on research, construction, and completion of the draft Circular to ensure quality and progress.

According to Ca Mau provincial voters, the Law on Environmental Protection has been in force since the beginning of 2022. However, the competent authorities still need to be faster and issue guidelines on the pricing of solid waste treatment services and regulations on economic and technical standards for the collection, transportation, and treatment of solid wastes... Voters urged the MONRE to issue a guidance text for local implementation as soon as possible.

Concerning the above, the MONRE said that, by the provisions of Article 79 of the Law on Environmental Protection, which is responsible for developing guidelines for the pricing of solid waste treatment services, regulating the economic and technical level of collection, transportation, and disposal of solid wastes.

In fulfilling the assigned tasks, MONRE has issued Circular No. 02/2022 TT-BTNMT detailing the implementation of some articles of the Law on Environmental Protection, including the price of services for the collection, transportation, and treatment of solid waste.

Illustration Image

MONRE has also issued Decision No. 948/QD/BTNMT of 2023, establishing the Circular Committee to administer economic and technical standards for collecting, transporting, and treating solid waste.

However, the establishment of economic-technical standards for the collection, transportation, and treatment of solid waste, including the collection and transportation of solid waste after classification at source, specific solid waste (on rivers, canals, slopes, sea surface, beaches; massive solid waste;...); treatment by incineration technology, energy-recovered combustion are new standards which need to be evaluated carefully, objectively to ensure high representation and in line with practical conditions.

For this reason, the MONRE is developing draft provisions on economic and technical standards for the collection, transportation, and treatment of solid waste and has organized the consultation of experts and relevant units. In the future, the Ministry will continue to seek the opinions of the provinces and cities to finalize, review, and issue the text. It is expected that the Circular will be published by 2024

Also, according to the MONRE, to effectively implement the classification of solid waste, the Department of Resources and Environment has prepared a draft of technical guidelines for classifying solid waste with local opinion, which is expected to be issued in 2023 before the time localities are obliged to classify solid waste (December 31, 2024).

When this guideline is implemented, household individual solid waste is classified as reusable, recyclable, food waste, and other living solid waste.

Solid waste collection, transportation, and disposal from this classification will be much more convenient and efficient. Create a prerequisite for implementing economic and technical standards for solid waste collection, transportation, and treatment.

Source: Vietnam MONRE