On the inter-village road of Noong Pết, Thanh Nưa commune, large piles of trash lying close to the road edge are a familiar haunting sight for people frequently passing through this area. Domestic waste is mixed with nylon bags, plastic packaging, household scraps, and even hard-to-decompose waste. At times, people burn trash right on the roadside, with thick black smoke rising, causing environmental pollution.

Trần Thị Lan, Việt Thanh village, Thanh Nưa commune, shared: “Every day I pass this road section a few times to buy vegetables from people in the old Thanh Hưng commune bringing them to the market to sell. Every time I pass, I feel very uncomfortable because of the large piles of trash on the roadside.”

According to Lan, every day many people from Noong Pết village and neighboring villages bring trash to dump here. All kinds of domestic waste are discarded in disorder, making this area a “mobile trash gathering point” for many families. Worryingly, on hot days, the trash emits a strong foul odor; when it rains, the trash follows the water flow down to the fields, flows into canals, and spreads to many other areas, causing loss of aesthetics and environmental pollution.

The situation of roadside littering appears in many communes in the province, especially in areas far from trash gathering points. Dumping trash by the roadside, stream banks, or manual burning is still common. In some places, long-standing stagnant trash creates local pollution points, directly affecting people’s daily lives and putting great pressure on the collection work of environmental sanitation teams. Many points on inter-village and inter-commune roads have turned into temporary dumping grounds, increasing the risk of disease outbreaks, especially in the rainy season.

To overcome the above situation, recently, localities in the province have implemented many solutions to improve the efficiency of domestic waste management. The focus is on strengthening information dissemination and mobilizing people to dispose of trash in prescribed places; organizing environmental sanitation launch drives along each route and residential area. Many localities maintain “Volunteer Saturday”, “Green Sunday”, mobilizing union members, members, and people to participate in collecting and cleaning up waste. Some communes established environmental self-management teams; in remote areas, the authorities arrange temporary gathering points, then organize collection on fixed days to ensure hygiene and limit prolonged pollution.

In addition to centralized collection, the province focuses on waste processing solutions at the source. In 2024, the provincial Farmers’ Association deployed a pilot model of classifying and treating organic waste into fertilizer right at households. 6 models with 360 member households participating have shown positive changes, especially in reducing the amount of waste needing transport, creating organic fertilizer serving agricultural production, and forming waste classification habits in each family. Thanks to the motto “People know, people discuss, people decide, people inspect, and people benefit,” the model received positive responses from the community.

The family of Lò Thị Hoa, Mển village, Thanh Nưa commune, is one of the households participating in the model. Since being guided to classify and utilize organic waste to compost into fertilizer, Hoa has an additional source of fertilizer for crops. The biggest benefit the model brings, according to her, is not only the amount of organic fertilizer obtained but also significantly reducing indiscriminate littering, limiting the amount of waste sent for collection, contributing to creating a fresh living environment for the family and community.

“This method helps the environment be green and clean, creating a nutrient-rich fertilizer source for crops. For many months, my family’s vegetable garden has not used chemical fertilizer but is always lush green,” Hoa excitedly shared.

To create positive changes in people’s awareness and actions, the provincial People’s Committee issued Decision No.08/2024/QĐ-UBND on solid waste management (effective from the beginning of 2025) and Plan No.2957/KH-UBND on classifying domestic solid waste at the source. The goal is that by the end of 2025, 100% of communes and wards in the province will implement waste classification at the source. This is considered an important step, moving Điện Biên towards modern waste management methods, suitable for green development orientation.

In the spirit of provincial direction, levels, sectors, and local authorities have proactively built implementation plans, organized training for grassroots officials, and widely propagated to every village and residential group. Many localities arranged additional temporary gathering points, supported containment bins, waste classification, and consolidated collection forces along routes. Thanks to the synchronous approach, people’s awareness has been step-by-step raised. To date, over 90% of communes in the province have established domestic waste collection teams. This is an important premise to improve waste treatment efficiency throughout the area, gradually solving the environmental pollution situation in residential areas.