CWS subsidiary VWS to use industrial drones for odor control at Da Phuoc

California Waste Solutions subsidiary Vietnam Waste Solutions plans to begin regular drone operations in October 2026 at Da Phuoc Integrated Waste Management Facility in Ho Chi Minh City. The UAV program is designed to speed odor control and disinfection, improve employee safety and reduce manual spraying at one of the city’s largest waste sites.

Why it matters: - Vietnam Waste Solutions says the drone program could make odor control and disinfection faster, safer and more consistent at Da Phuoc, where the facility handles more than half of Ho Chi Minh City’s daily waste. - The shift could reduce workers’ direct exposure to chemicals and biological products while improving treatment coverage over large active waste areas. - The rollout would also position Vietnam Waste Solutions as an early adopter of industrial UAVs in Vietnam’s waste-management sector.

What happened: - California Waste Solutions subsidiary Vietnam Waste Solutions is preparing to deploy industrial drones for odor control and disinfection at the Da Phuoc Integrated Waste Management Facility in Ho Chi Minh City. - Regular flights are expected to begin in October 2026 after required legal procedures and flight permits are completed under Vietnam’s unmanned-aircraft rules. - The company says the program will use the DJI Agras T100 industrial UAV for spraying biological treatment products over active waste-receiving areas, landfill cells and other odor-sensitive zones.

The details: - The drones are intended to neutralize odors and disinfect surfaces from the air before contaminants disperse more widely. - The UAVs are also meant to replace higher-risk manual spraying work that requires crews to work close to waste and treatment chemicals. - VWS says multiple trial flights at Da Phuoc were used to assess cost efficiency, coverage quality and environmental improvement before moving to a regular operating schedule. - The approval process includes flight-route planning, coordination with authorities on low-altitude operations and certification of flight-control personnel. - The company says operations will be limited to authorized routes and schedules and will include weather limits, obstacle clearance and coordination with ground crews. - The DJI Agras T100 specifications cited by the company include flight dimensions of 3,220 mm by 3,224 mm by 975 mm and folded dimensions of 1,105 mm by 1,265 mm by 975 mm. - The aircraft carries up to 100 liters of liquid payload. - The spraying capacity reaches up to 40 liters per minute, and granular spreading capacity reaches up to 400 kilograms per minute. - The maximum operating flight speed is 20 meters per second. - Effective spraying performance is about 10 to 18 hectares per hour, depending on application rate, wind and terrain. - The platform uses GPS-RTK positioning for centimeter-class accuracy on automated flight paths. - VWS says the system can also handle insect-control spraying where needed. - The facility was developed as Vietnam’s first sanitary-landfill model based on U.S. Subtitle D standards. - Da Phuoc is designed to receive up to 10,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste per day. - Published operating figures in recent periods have ranged from about 4,000 to 6,500 tonnes per day. - VWS has operated Da Phuoc since November 2007 under a long-term public-private arrangement. - Existing operations include sanitary landfill management, recycling, material recovery, composting, leachate and wastewater treatment with treated-water reuse, and landfill-gas collection for on-site electricity generation.

Between the lines: - The drone rollout is part of a broader modernization push that fits Vietnam’s policy direction on advanced technology, automation and artificial intelligence in environmental protection. - David Duong framed the investment as an employee-safety measure as much as an efficiency upgrade, citing the company’s history of technology adoption. - In trial work, a receiving-area spraying task that typically required six workers could be done by one trained operator using an unmanned sprayer. - The labor change suggests the biggest near-term payoff may be reduced exposure to hazardous materials rather than only faster spraying. - VWS is also accelerating a proposed Da Phuoc waste-to-energy project with more than half a billion U.S. dollars in planned investment and capacity of up to 50 to 60 megawatts.

What's next: - VWS will wait to deploy the drones until all permissions are received. - The company expects the first routine drone flights in October 2026 if permitting is completed on schedule. - VWS also plans to continue investment in the Green Environmental Technology Park in Tay Ninh Province, in the area formerly within Long An Province.

The bottom line: - The Da Phuoc UAV program is a test of whether industrial drones can become a standard tool for large-scale waste-site odor control, disinfection and worker protection in Vietnam.