The collection of household waste by volume will be officially applied when the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 comes into effect in 2022.

Pay according to the litter rate

From January 1, 2022, the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 officially took effect. Accordingly, the regulations on charging domestic waste according to the volume of waste that households and individuals discharge will also be applied.

In Clause 1, Article 79, expenses for collection, transportation and treatment of daily-life solid waste are as follows:

1. Service charges for collection, transportation and treatment of daily-life solid waste from households and individuals are calculated on the following grounds:

a) Comply with the provisions of the law on prices;

b) Based on the weight or volume of the sorted waste;

c) Solid waste that can be reused, recycled, and hazardous waste generated from households and individuals that have been classified separately are not required to pay collection, transportation and treatment service charges.

According to regulations, the garbage collection price is calculated based on the "mass, "volume" of garbage after being sorted.

Currently, the price of garbage collection is calculated per capita.

Charging waste according to the volume of waste discharged is said to be fair and helps to limit domestic waste, reduce pressure on waste treatment systems as well as contribute to protecting the living environment.

However, Clause 7 Article 79 of this Law also clearly states: "The provisions in Clause 1 of this Article and Clause 1, Article 75 of this Law must be implemented by December 31, 2024".

That is, the regulation of charging waste by volume can be applied at different locations and at different times. The implementation period is from January 1, 2022 and no later than December 31, 2024.

Failure to sort waste will be fined up to 20 million VND

Besides, the Law also stipulates on the classification of garbage that if domestic waste is not classified according to regulations, it will be refused to collect and transport garbage.

Specifically, Clause 2, Article 77 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 states:

Daily-life solid waste collection and transport establishments have the right to refuse to collect and transport daily-life solid wastes of households and individuals that do not classify or use packages in accordance with regulations and notify such to the authorities. competent authorities to examine and handle according to the provisions of law [...]

Therefore, households and individuals are required to classify their waste, otherwise they will be refused collection, even reported to the competent authority and handled according to regulations.

According to Clause 1, Article 75 of this Law, daily-life solid waste from households and individuals must be classified as follows:

- Solid waste can be reused and recycled.

- Food waste.

- Other daily-life solid waste.

According to Clause 4, Article 20 of Decree 155/2016/ND-CP, acts of failing to classify garbage according to regulations will be fined from VND 15 million to VND 20 million.