China has vowed to stop importing solid waste by 2020, while Vietnam is still fumbling for solutions to control scrap imports.

Lotte Mart in HCM City pioneered the recent campaign of using non-plastic bags for food packaging. At its outlet in district 7, vegetables are wrapped in banana leaves instead of plastic bags.

VietNamNet Bridge - The news about land subsidence in the western provinces of the southern region has once again rung the alarm over the exploitation of underground water.

VietNamNet Bridge - Investors in weaving and dyeing workshops have promised local authorities to discharge treated waste water to satisfy Vietnamese standards, but authorities say they rarely do.

VietNamNet Bridge - The creator of the ‘waste-to-electricity and organic carbon technology specifically designed for Vietnam’ is Nguyen Gia Long, director of the Hydraulic Machines Company (HMC). 

Vietnam has investors who are willing to develop waste treatment plants, but startups, when contacting local authorities, are told that there is no waste to treat, says Dang Huy Dong, former Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment.

VietNamNet Bridge - The government, environmental ministry and local authorities are seeking a waste treatment technology that work well in Vietnam, where waste is not sorted at source.

For effective, low-cost pollution treatment solutions at the household and industrial levels, Dr Nguyen Thi Ha and her co-workers from the environment faculty of the Hanoi University of Natural Sciences have been granted the Kovalevskaia Award.

VietNamNet Bridge - The tailings dam break at Corrego do Feijao in Brazil in January has raised the fear that a similar disaster may occur at the red mud reservoirs in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

The Mineral Alliance has asked the Communist Party’s leaders, National Assembly, the government and relevant ministries to stop the exploitation at Thach Khe mine and shut it down.

VietNamNet Bridge - Challenges to environmental security not only threaten human life and food security, but also  national security and human survival.

VietNamNet Bridge - The ancient pomu (fokienia) and do quyen (rhododendron) trees in the Tay Giang district of Quang Nam province, which have existed for thousands of years, are zealously protected by local residents.

VietNamNet Bridge - The uncontrolled exploitation of wild orchids could lead to the eventual disappearance of beautiful, rare and precious species in Vietnam. 

Government ministries and branches all have vowed to tighten control over scrap steel imports following warnings by scientists that Vietnam may become a dumping ground for the world. But scrap imports are still on the rise.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam will likely have to face another El Nino spell in the 2018-2019 winter-spring period. 

In early November, the Kon Tum provincial police discovered a large amount of wildlife carried on a bus that went through the province. The wildlife seized included crocodiles and turtles of different species. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Some years ago, international scientists found that Vietnam ranked high among countries that emit large amounts of plastic waste into the oceans. 

VietNamNet Bridge - While people consider domestic waste as toxic substances that must be eliminated, Prof. Dr. Tran Kim Qui considers it a valuable material to produce high quality organic fertilizer.

VietNamNet Bridge - To obtain wild animals to sell to restaurants, poachers venture into forests and natural reserves, willing to fire on forest rangers.

VietNamNet Bridge - Environmental protection organizations have suggested that local authorities be responsible for controlling and stopping wildlife consumption in their localities.