Ho Chi Minh City authorities at all levels and residents have been making efforts to reduce plastic waste in the environment, launching campaigns and movements on environmental protection and consuming environmentally friendly products.
City dwellers exchange solid waste for gifts
District administrations launch trash exchange for gifts
Many districts have had specific activities to reduce plastic waste in the environment, such as mobilizing people to collect and bring trash to collection points in exchange for gifts.
In 2023, the People's Committee of Nguyen Cu Trinh Ward in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 coordinated with the office of the Vietnam Association for Clean Water and Environment in Ho Chi Minh City to collect solid waste four times with a total amount of more than three tons including old clothes, old lithium-ion batteries, plastic bags, used plastic products, and newspapers.
After being collected, waste will be transported to Asia Environmental Services Trading and Production Company for recycling and treatment according to regulations.
Vice Chairman of Nguyen Cu Trinh Ward People's Committee Nguyen Van Phu said that people were bringing waste to the Ward People's Committee to exchange for cash and gifts such as cloth bags, biodegradable plastic bags, and disinfectant sprays.
In 2023, the ward encouraged philanthropists and deducted funds from the trash-for-gift exchange to give 27 health insurance cards to disadvantaged households in the ward. Through waste collection movements, the administration has widely disseminated information about environmental protection and the harmful effects of plastic waste to residents in the ward. At the same time, the waste-exchange-for-gift program has also nurtured the habit of classifying waste at source for each individual, household and organization in the area.
Mr. Nguyen Van Phu said that resolving plastic pollution is a long-term process which needs synchronous implementation of treatment solutions with joint action of businesses, people, and local authorities.
The ward administrators aim to raise people's awareness about environmental protection in residential areas, gradually switching from non-degradable plastic bags and single-use plastic products to environmentally friendly products. After organizing programs to exchange trash for gifts, people’s awareness of the environment was raised so they decreased littering in the streets; thus, many neighborhoods have become cleaner and more beautiful.
In Go Vap District, the ‘anti-plastic waste’ movement launched by the Women's Union has become a movement participated by its all members.
The trash-for-gift exchange program is held regularly every month with the eager participation of district officials and members of the local women’s union; thereby, it has greatly contributed to raising people's awareness of protecting the environment.
In addition, Go Vap district liaised with the Ho Chi Minh City Red Cross to classify clothes when collecting and donating new clothes to difficult areas while cutting unused clothes to recycle into rags and other items are recycled into plastic products.
Government, city dwellers join hands to protect the environment
Currently, many people use single-use plastic products, while the number of people using environmentally friendly products is still low. In fact, persistent plastic waste is collected and recycled but at a very low rate; Most of the waste has been buried, burned or thrown in landfills and canals.
A project to strengthen plastic waste management in Vietnam has been implemented, focusing on collecting, recycling and treating plastic waste with a goal of using all eco-friendly packaging in shopping centers and supermarkets, replacing non-degradable plastic bags by 2025. Moreover, the project ensures the collection, reuse, recycling and treatment of 85 percent of generated plastic waste.
In 2023, the Representative Office of the Vietnam Association for Clean Water and Environment in Ho Chi Minh City coordinated with authorities in districts in Ho Chi Minh City and many provinces and cities in the Southern region to organize a program monthly. The program was held to mobilize people to collect and exchange trash for gifts aiming to minimize the amount of single-use plastic waste disposed into the environment. In addition, the Vietnam Clean Water and Environment Association in Ho Chi Minh City organized the program ‘Bring trash to the mainland’ amongst officers, soldiers and recruits of the Navy Region 2 Training Center.
According to Ms. Phan Thi Thuy Phuong, Deputy Head of the Representative Office of the Vietnam Clean Water and Environment Association in Ho Chi Minh City, the association's activities have yielded fruitful results, and littering has decreased significantly. Notably, the landscape and environment in many places have become clean and beautiful. In 2024, the association will continue to implement programs to collect single-use plastic waste and classify waste in residential areas, especially propaganda at schools in Ho Chi Minh City to mobilize students to join hands in environmental protection for a green, clean and beautiful city.
Ms. Phan Thi Thuy Phuong expected that through these programs, city dwellers would reduce the use of single-use plastic products. In 2024, the association will continue to maintain waste-exchange-for-gift exchange programs to help people form the habit of sorting waste in households. At the same time, the association will grow more trees to create green areas and green living spaces in residential quarters.
By Bui Tuan – Translated By Anh Quan
