The provincial People’s Committee has issued Decision No. 08/2024/QĐ-UBND on solid waste management, effective from the beginning of 2025, and Plan No. 2957/KH-UBND on the sorting of domestic solid waste at the source. The goal is for 100% of communes and wards in the province to implement waste sorting at the source by the end of 2025. This is a major shift, moving Điện Biên towards modern waste management, in line with green development requirements. According to data from the Department of Agriculture and Environment, by mid-2025, nearly 90% of communes in the area had domestic waste collection teams.

Previously, waste treatment in rural areas depended on mobilization campaigns by the government, but now, in many places, people have proactively started sorting their waste. In Phăng 1 village, Mường Phăng commune, general clean-up activities are regularly maintained twice a month, with the local women’s union in charge. Recyclable waste is sorted and collected separately by residents, while organic waste is composted to make fertilizer for crops. This model is being replicated in many other villages in the commune.

Mr. Lường Văn Đại, the chief of Phăng 1 village, said: “The whole village organizes a general clean-up twice a month, led by the Women’s Union. All households are self-aware and conscious of keeping the environment clean every day. Recyclable waste is collected separately for recycling, and the rest is gathered centrally.”

Mr. Trịnh Doãn Hoàng, Head of the Mường Phăng commune Economic Office, stated: “With a large area formed from the merger of three communes, maintaining environmental hygiene is a challenge. However, with close guidance and continuous communication, people have formed the habit of regular cleaning and sorting waste right at home. The commune identifies environmental hygiene as an important criterion for developing eco-tourism and attracting visitors to Mường Phăng.”

In 2024, the provincial Farmers’ Union launched a pilot model for collecting, sorting, and processing organic waste into fertilizer at the household level. Accordingly, the provincial Farmers’ Union has implemented 6 models with 360 member families participating under the motto “People know, people discuss, people decide, people inspect, and people benefit” to achieve high efficiency and sustainability. The model supported 60 organic compost bins of 160-liter capacity with lids, drainage taps, and an access door for compost. It also supported 120 plastic trash cans of 30-liter capacity for waste sorting and 120kg of biological products for composting.

Since participating in the model, the family of Ms. Lò Thị Hoa in Mển village, Thanh Nưa commune, has been guided on how to sort waste and utilize organic waste to make compost, helping her family create an additional source of nutrients for their crops. However, the biggest benefit from the model is that it has addressed the problem of indiscriminate waste disposal and reduced the amount of waste that needs to be collected. This has created a fresh living environment, ensuring the health of her family and the community.

Ms. Lò Thị Hoa shared: “This method helps to make the environment green and clean and creates a nutrient-rich source of fertilizer for our plants. For many months now, my family’s vegetable garden has not needed chemical fertilizers, but it is always lush and green.”

As of September 2025, 90% of domestic solid waste and non-hazardous waste in the province was being collected and treated according to regulations. This rate has increased sharply compared to 2021, when the figure was only nearly 60%. In particular, under the National Target Program for New Rural Development, the environmental criterion is being focused on by many communes with creative approaches, such as establishing environmental self-management groups and movements like “green Saturdays and Sundays,” “trash-free roads,” and “self-managed residential sanitation areas.” These have contributed to creating a new, green and clean face for rural Điện Biên.

Despite these positive results, waste treatment in Điện Biên still faces no small number of difficulties. In rural areas, the waste collection rate has only reached about 40%. According to assessments by professional agencies, the “treatment at the source” approach is the only and most sustainable path to protecting the environment. It is the responsibility of the entire society, every household, and every individual. When every village and residential group is conscious of maintaining hygiene, and the locality has an effective collection mechanism, the waste problem will no longer be a burden but will become a raw material source for the circular, green economy.