National Assembly Delegate: Garbage fees should be collected based on the amount of waste discharged, not collected evenly.

On the morning of October 28, the National Assembly discussed in the hall the Report of the Supervisory Delegation and the draft Resolution of the National Assembly on the results of the thematic supervision of "Implementation of policies and laws on environmental protection since the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 took effect".

Many delegates said that although policies have made progress, the classification and treatment of household waste is still a "bottleneck" in environmental protection work.

"Whoever litters more pays more"

Delegate Tran Nhat Minh ( Nghe An ) said that the principle of "polluters must pay" is an important new point of the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection, but implementation is still slow and unsynchronized.

"Many people have started to sort their garbage, but when they see the collection vehicles collecting everything together, they lose faith and return to their old habits," he said.

National Assembly Delegate Tran Nhat Minh (Photo: NA).

According to delegates, the policy of classifying waste at source - effective nationwide from January 1 - is the right step to form a circular economy , reduce pressure on waste treatment and protect the environment sustainably.

However, progress is still sluggish: only 34/63 localities have implemented it, mainly on a small scale; 59 localities have not yet issued economic and technical norms, 58 localities have not yet issued prices for collection, transportation and treatment of household waste.

Besides, Mr. Minh emphasized the need to change the way of collecting waste fees, not collecting them evenly by household but based on the amount of waste released into the environment.

"If people throw a lot of garbage, they have to pay more; people who throw less garbage pay less, so it cannot be collected equally. Then everyone will have the motivation to reduce, recycle and classify garbage at the source," said Mr. Minh.

Sharing the same view, delegate Hoang Quoc Khanh (Lai Chau) also said that waste classification at source has only achieved modest results.

"When garbage has been classified at households but is still collected together, this does not encourage people to do it," he said, adding that law enforcement is not uniform, incentive policies are few, supervision and punishment are not strict, so many places "implement it as a formality."

National Assembly Delegate Hoang Quoc Khanh (Photo: NA).

Weak infrastructure and lack of capital

Delegate Ly Anh Thu (An Giang) acknowledged that in recent years, the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection has created changes in awareness and actions of all levels and sectors, but the environmental technical infrastructure system is still lacking in synchronization, fragmented and has not received proper investment.

"Many localities still lack wastewater treatment plants and centralized waste treatment areas. Environmental projects are often placed behind other socio-economic infrastructure projects such as transportation, schools, and hospitals. Small, prolonged investment capital and outdated technology cause many projects to operate ineffectively or even stop operating," she said.

Delegate Ly Anh Thu (Photo: NA).

Delegates suggested that investment in environmental protection technical infrastructure should be considered essential infrastructure, on par with socio-economic infrastructure, and given priority in the medium-term public investment portfolio. At the same time, there should be a specific mechanism to attract socialized resources and encourage the private sector to participate in the management and operation of waste and wastewater treatment systems.

Delegates agreed that to solve the waste problem at its root, it is necessary to simultaneously upgrade infrastructure, increase supervision and change management thinking. Waste classification at source must be linked to planning and investment in separate collection - transportation - treatment systems; if it is still collected together, all efforts of the people will be meaningless.

"Environmental protection is not only the task of the natural resources and environment sector but also the responsibility of the whole society. Investment in the environment should be considered as investment in sustainable development," delegate Ly Anh Thu emphasized.

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Source: https://dantri.com.vn/thoi-su/dbqh-can-thu-phi-rac-theo-luong-xa-thai-khong-thu-dong-deu-20251028102929536.htm