Hoi An pilots selling plastic bags to residents instead of collecting garbage fees

Talk toTuoi Tre OnlineMr. Nguyen The Hung, Vice Chairman of Hoi An City People's Committee, said that 450 households along Nguyen Tri Phuong Street are the first families in the country to test the method of "calculating monthly garbage fees by volume and weight through plastic bags".

The more plastic bags and the heavier the trash, the higher the fee.

According to Mr. Hung, from mid-2023, with the approval of the People's Committee of Quang Nam province and the support of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Hoi An has chosen Cam Nam ward to pilot the collection of waste fees based on the amount generated.

Each family living on Nguyen Tri Phuong Street (about 400m from the Old Quarter) will sort their garbage into 3 groups right at home corresponding to each type of plastic bag.

Food waste will be placed in clear white plastic bags with blue letters. Recyclable and reusable waste will be collected and processed by households at home. Other solid waste will be placed in white waste bags with black letters.

Since the program was launched, households have been able to purchase plastic bags of 10 liters, 15 liters, 20 liters and the largest is 40 liters.

According to the converted price, a 10-liter plastic bag costs nearly 1,900 VND, a 15-liter bag costs 5,000 VND, a 20-liter bag costs 7,500 VND, a 30-liter bag costs 10,000 VND and a 40-liter bag costs 15,000 VND.

With the average collection rate of 30,000 VND/household as before, each household instead of paying cash will buy plastic bags equivalent to the "face value". 30,000 VND will buy 16 10-liter bags, 15-liter bags will buy 6 bags, 20-liter bags will buy 4 bags...

On alternate days of the week, garbage trucks will come to residential areas to collect garbage. Environmental company employees will sell plastic bags, and residents will pay according to the number of bags they need to buy.

According to Ms. Huynh Pham Thuy Lan - Vice Chairman of Cam Nam Ward People's Committee, in principle, in the future, the more garbage a household produces, the more bags it will have to buy, and the more money it will cost.

However, because it is a pilot project, most people only buy 30,000 VND worth of bags. When they run out, people use regular garbage bags instead of buying more.

"We have not seen any household buy more bags in the same month, nor have any households said they could not use up all the bags," said Ms. Lan.

People buy garbage bags at the same price as the "equal" price for a long time

Records in Cam Nam ward show that although they bought garbage bags according to instructions, many households still used them sparingly.

People say that the method of charging for garbage by the bag as implemented sounds good, but whether it is "transparent" or not depends on the awareness of each family.

"For a long time now, I have been throwing away trash according to my daily routine. Every month I pay the environmental sanitation company.

But now, we go buy bags of different sizes, depending on the type of trash, and put the trash in them. When we run out of bags, in principle we have to buy new ones. But in reality, how many people do that?

"People use up all the bags and don't buy more, they just use regular bags. When the trash is full, they leave it on the street for collection," said a resident on Nguyen Tri Phuong Street.

Ms. Vo Thi Ba, owner of a restaurant in Cam Nam, said that her family bought some garbage bags. But when they run out, she uses regular plastic bags to carry the trash.

Meanwhile, Ms. Dang Thi Hiep, house number 19 Nguyen Tri Phuong, said that for a long time she has been paying 30,000 VND per month for garbage. When the government piloted the sale of plastic bags, she bought the same number of bags as she had been paying 30,000 VND, but they could only hold a few.

"My house is a tailor shop so we produce an average of 5kg of waste per day. For a long time, I have found that paying only 30,000 VND/month is very low.

If we apply the fee collection method based on weight and volume as is being piloted, the amount of money will be very high. Those who use a lot will have to pay a lot. However, I still support it because of fairness," said Ms. Hiep.