The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) has issued Decision No. 849/QD-BTNMT on the plan to implement Resolution No. 09/NQ-CP to ensure the integrated and unified state management of solid waste from central to local levels.

The plan is intended to improve the situation of domestic solid waste management in Vietnam, contributing to successful implementation of the National Strategy on integrated management of solid waste by 2025, which was approved by the Prime Minister in May 2018.

The first step is to review policies and reassess the current status of solid waste management by mid-2019. MONRE will prepare suggestions to amend and supplement regulations, strengthening MONRE´s role as the focal point.

Towards this end, MONRE is collecting information from provincial levels and has assigned the Vietnam Environment Administration (VEA) to review and assess localities on different aspects of solid waste management. In this context, VEA is cooperating with DONREs to inspect and assess solid waste treatment facilities.

At the national level, a review of legal documents and international best practice will be conducted. MONRE will also host several workshops to identify effective management models and suitable technology for solid waste treatment in accordance with the Vietnamese context. All working and assessment results will lay the foundations for a national conference on solid waste management, which will be chaired by the Prime Minister in June 2019 in Hanoi. Subsequently, MONRE will develop a Directive on urgent solutions to strengthen solid waste management, which will then be submitted to the Prime Minister for approval.

According to official data from Vietnam´s General Statistics Office (GSO), at least 20 percent of collected solid waste was not treated in line with national standards in 2017. In addition, a large amount of additional waste was not collected and therefore is not reflected in these data.