Every Wednesday and Friday afternoon, members of the “Instant Noodle Packaging for Recycling” Club gather to make products from instant noodle packages. For nearly four years this club, established to protect the environment, has been attracting volunteers and collaborators across Vietnam.
At the “Instant Noodle Packaging for Recycling” Club, each member has a job. (Photo: Pham Minh)
Founded in July 2020 by Vu Thi Thao, a teacher at Vinschool Times City High School in Ha Noi, the “Instant Noodle Packaging for Recycling” Club has recruited hundreds of students at Vinschool and other high schools in the capital city and collaborators nationwide.
Each club member has a job. Some are in charge of sorting. Others cut up the plastic. Some create threads from the cut-up packages. And some weave products from the threads.
Tran Ngoc Hien, a member of the club’s marketing board, said, “After they’re collected, the discarded instant noodle packages have their edges removed and are wiped clean with a dry towel. They are then rolled into hard steel threads which are bonded together with candle glue. Traditional rattan and bamboo weaving methods are used to create environment-friendly products from the threads.”
The club members turn instant noodle packages into beautiful handmade products instead of environmentally harmful trash. The recycled products include pencil cases, boxes, handbags, coasters, and fruit baskets.
Another member, Thanh Nga, elaborated that it takes only 15 to 30 minutes to complete a simple product, a bit longer for more complicated ones. It might take 10 to 12 hours to make a basket or a jar, for example.
Leftover materials are donated to a project called “Waste is Gold” that uses Industry 4.0 technology created by Dr. Vuong Thi Lan Anh of the University of Industry to produce construction materials from recycled plastic. 100% of the waste is processed.
According to Nguyen Cong Duy Anh, the club’s Deputy President, they collect instant noodle packages from each club member’s family and friends.
“In addition, collaborators nationwide regularly send us packages. We teach younger club members ways to recycle other products at home. We want to spread a message of the importance of preserving traditional values,” said Duy Anh.
Products made by the “Instant Noodle Packaging for Recycling” Club. (Photo: Pham Minh)
In September 2020, the club received third prize in the Youth Initiative Competition “To Blue the Blue” jointly held by the Vietnam National Model ASEAN Meeting and the ASEAN Foundation for candidates aged 16 to 25 across Vietnam. All proceeds from the sale of the club’s products go to charitable foundations.
Vu Thi Thao, the club’s founder, said their recycled products protect the environment and promote a green lifestyle while also benefitting charity.
She said she feels very happy to do something meaningful for the community.
“We collect the raw materials at no cost. When the products are sold, customers pay whatever they want by making a bank transfer to an organization benefitting financially disadvantaged children,” Thao told VOV.
To spread their green activities to more people, the club intends to introduce its model to universities and social welfare centers in Ha Noi.
