Raising people's awareness in environmental protection

The rural environment is under pressure from pollution due to population growth with an increasing amount of solid waste in production and daily life. According to statistics, Dong Nai province has about 2.6 thousand tons of domestic waste (RTSH) every day. In the areas of the old Binh Phuoc province, while waiting for the policy to build centralized waste treatment projects, raising people's awareness in RTSH treatment plays a very important role.

Specialized vehicles of Green Environment Company come to collect household waste for people in Nghia Trung commune. Photo: Vu Thuyen

Garbage-free residential area

Village 2 is the central residential area of ​​Nghia Trung commune, Dong Nai province, where National Highway 14 runs for 25km with many schools, production and business establishments, and markets operating. However, along the road in this residential area, it is very clean, without any garbage. Instead, along both sides of the road, in front of the gates of houses, production and business establishments, large and small mobile trash bins are placed. Every day, all types of waste are classified, collected and put into bins by people and are collected and transported by specialized vehicles of the Green Environment Company. This brings many practical meanings, creating a clean environment for the residential area as well as each household.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Van, resident of Hamlet 2, Nghia Trung Commune, shared: Because the local government has been propagandizing and warning about the harmful effects of environmental pollution from waste, she and other households here are aware of collecting, classifying at source and dumping waste in the right place. Along with that, households and businesses that contract waste collection have coordinated harmoniously so there is no waste backlog, causing environmental pollution in residential areas.

In Nha Bich commune, Dong Nai province, concerned about the indiscriminate disposal of waste by people causing environmental pollution, in 2020, Nha Bich Agricultural - Commercial Cooperative invested in purchasing specialized vehicles to collect waste in the area. This meaningful work not only solves the problem of waste in residential areas but also contributes to completing environmental criteria in new rural construction in localities.

The Resolution of the Commune Party Committee for the 2025-2030 term sets a target of collecting 95% of solid waste in the area by 2030. To achieve this goal, first of all, raise people's awareness in collecting, classifying and treating waste, especially encouraging people to classify and treat waste at source. In addition, continue to develop a project to treat solid waste in the commune, contract with the Green Environment Company to collect and gather waste in the right place.

Vice Chairman of Nghia Trung Commune People's Committee LUONG DINH HAI

Ms. Than Thi Lan Thanh, residing in Hamlet 5, Nha Bich Commune, shared: In the past, because there were no specialized vehicles to collect garbage, some people had to take their waste to the rubber plantation to bury or burn it, which was not environmentally friendly. However, now people just need to put it in the bin, and when the vehicle comes to collect it, it is very convenient, and the environment is much cleaner. Having a specialized vehicle to collect garbage every day has contributed to changing people's awareness, thereby creating a clean environment and a garbage-free residential area.

Realizing the importance of waste collection for the living environment, not only in densely populated areas but also in remote areas, people and workers are conscious of collecting and dumping waste in the right place.

At Nghia Trung Farm, Phu Rieng Rubber Company Limited takes advantage of the short break at noon, in addition to cleaning the latex gathering area and the workplace, workers also voluntarily collect all kinds of waste in the rubber plantation as well as along the road to bring it to the gathering place. Thereby contributing to cleaning and ventilating the workplace, on the roads, minimizing environmental pollution, and responding to climate change.

Synchronize multiple solutions

Nghia Trung commune is 222km2 wide, with a population of over 33,000 people and a daily output of 7 tons of waste. Therefore, the pressure on waste collection and treatment has always been a difficult problem. To solve this problem, since the years before the merger, Duc Lieu, Nghia Trung, Nghia Binh (old) communes and now the new Nghia Trung have all signed contracts with the Green Environment Company to periodically collect and transport waste to the designated collection points at the two landfills in the area.

Vice Chairman of Nghia Trung Commune People's Committee Luong Dinh Hai said: Collecting waste is an urgent daily task, so the commune regularly directs relevant professional agencies to propagate and disseminate to people how to collect, process, and gather waste in the right place, and not to litter. At the same time, the Commune People's Committee welcomes people to voluntarily collect, classify, and treat waste at their households, especially processing organic waste into fertilizer. The Commune People's Committee is also very determined to handle acts of littering on the streets.

According to the People's Committee of Nghia Trung Commune, the locality is implementing sanctions under the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection on littering from 500,000 to 2 million VND/case (depending on the level). Since then, people have been highly aware of collecting, classifying, and treating waste. The difficulty is that the main road of National Highway 14 through the commune is 25km long, many people come and go, so when crossing the road, they have poor environmental behavior...

In addition to the strong efforts of local authorities, people and businesses, the prompt participation of relevant departments, branches and units is needed; because in the old Binh Phuoc province, there are still 22 temporary landfills with 350 thousand tons. Meanwhile, in the area, there is only Dong Xoai Waste Treatment Plant, belonging to Binh Phuoc Environment Joint Stock Company, which receives and treats waste in the old Dong Xoai city and neighboring areas, so it is always overloaded.

It is worth mentioning that many temporary landfills in the communes of Phuoc Son, Dak Nhau, Bom Bo and the old town of Phuoc Long have existed for a long time, and are located close to residential areas, causing serious environmental pollution. Along with that, many people take advantage of the absence of people to litter indiscriminately in front of the landfill entrance, blocking the way and spoiling the beauty of the residential area. Although the localities have put up signs prohibiting this, the incident still continues.

Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee is directing relevant departments and branches to work with investors to advise on the implementation of key waste treatment projects, especially in the old Binh Phuoc province. While waiting for the projects to be deployed and put into use, it is necessary to have the cooperation and active response of Party committees, authorities and people in raising awareness of protecting the living environment in residential areas.

Vu Thuyen

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/xa-hoi/202509/nang-cao-y-thuc-nguoi-dan-trong-bao-ve-moi-truong-765257e/