California Waste Solutions, an Oakland-based recycling and waste management company, is preparing to deploy industrial drones for odor control and disinfection at the Da Phuoc Integrated Waste Management Facility in Ho Chi Minh City through its wholly owned subsidiary, Vietnam Waste Solutions. Regular flight operations are expected to begin in October 2026, once legal procedures are completed and flight permits are granted under Vietnam's regulations for unmanned aircraft, the company said.
Under the program, the drones would spray biological treatment products over active waste-receiving areas, landfill cells and other odor-sensitive zones, aiming to neutralize odors and disinfect surfaces from the air before contaminants disperse more widely. The work would replace manual spraying that currently requires crews to operate in close proximity to waste and treatment chemicals. Drone spraying is expected to be 50 to 70 times faster than manual methods, allowing tens of thousands of square meters to be treated within minutes.
Vietnam Waste Solutions has conducted several trial flights at Da Phuoc to assess economic efficiency, coverage quality and environmental improvement before committing to a regular operating schedule. In that earlier work, staff reported that a receiving-area spraying task that normally required six workers could be handled by a single trained operator, and that the aircraft could treat areas crews could not safely or practically reach. The company says it is technically ready to fly but will not deploy the drones until all required permissions are received, with the approval process covering flight-route planning, coordination with authorities on low-altitude operations and certification of flight-control personnel.
The aircraft designated for the regular program is the DJI Agras T100, an industrial UAV with a liquid payload of up to 100 liters, a spraying capacity of up to 40 liters per minute and GPS-RTK positioning for pre-programmed flight paths. Its effective spraying performance in the field is given as approximately 10 to 18 hectares per hour, depending on application rate, wind and terrain.
The company describes the rollout as making Vietnam Waste Solutions the first waste-treatment company in Vietnam to apply intelligent aerial equipment to routine, large-scale environmental control at an integrated solid-waste facility. The investment is presented as part of a broader modernization of environmental services, consistent with national policy encouraging enterprises to apply advanced technology, automation and artificial intelligence, including the National Strategy on Digital Transformation and Innovation.
