Ho Chi Minh City, September 20, 2024 - Ho Chi Minh City Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) organized a workshop on "Promoting sustainable solutions for collecting waste on rivers and canals." The workshop aimed to find practical solutions for collecting waste on rivers, providing recommendations and policy suggestions to reduce pollution in water bodies and protect the environment.

The workshop was attended by representatives of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the Department of Environmental Pollution Control, departments, districts of Thu Duc City, UNDP, The Ocean Cleanup, PRO Vietnam and Unilever Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City Urban Environment Company (CITENCO), and organizations and individuals working in the environmental field. At the workshop, delegates shared domestic and international experiences in collecting and cleaning up garbage and cleaning water bodies, focusing on plastic waste. From waste collection, the workshop also shared and discussed the replication of these solutions and more comprehensive and fundamental solutions such as minimizing, recycling, and effectively managing solid waste.

In recent times, Ho Chi Minh City has implemented many solutions to control pollution and improve the quality of the river and canal environment associated with the implementation of the Environmental Pollution Reduction Program for the period 2020 - 2030 and Directive No. 19-CT/TU of the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee on the Campaign for Ho Chi Minh City residents not to litter on the streets and canals for a clean, green and environmentally friendly city, achieving some positive results. However, littering on the streets and canals has not been thoroughly resolved.

Mr. Bui Xuan Cuong, Member of the City Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, spoke at the workshop: "To achieve the goals of improving the environmental quality of rivers and canals, controlling waste sources, including collecting and treating wastewater and urban waste, is a task that the city is currently striving to implement. Regarding the issue of waste in rivers and canals, on the one hand, the city strengthens solutions to prevent indiscriminate discharge and maintains regular collection and treatment of waste on rivers, canals, and ditches; at the same time, the city focuses on implementing solutions to minimize waste generation from the source, gradually standardizing and improving the efficiency of waste collection, transportation, and treatment in the city, ensuring that 100% of waste generated is collected and treated according to regulations, especially promoting waste classification to promote the circular economic model for waste, especially plastic waste."

"By collecting waste in our rivers, we are directly preventing plastic from reaching the sea from land. Promoting innovation and developing waste collection technology in waterways is important. I believe that improving waste management in the city will significantly reduce plastic pollution in the environment. UNDP looks forward to continuing our collaboration with the city," said Mr. Patrick Haverman, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP Viet Nam. Ho Chi Minh City in solid waste management projects, especially waste sorting at source and building material recovery facilities (MRFs)."

At the workshop, experts also shared lessons learned from the implementation of the Interceptor 003 waste collection system on the Can Tho River. Although the system has contributed to reducing plastic pollution in the river, the collection efficiency has not yet reached the design capacity due to complex hydrological conditions and a lack of regulations on technical and economic norms.

Mr. Ho Kien Trung, Deputy Director of the Department of Environmental Pollution Control, emphasized that strict management measures and stakeholder cooperation are important factors in dealing with increasing plastic waste.

Sharing about the experience of collecting waste on the Can Tho River and lessons learned from international projects, Ms. Charlotte de Jong, Asia Development Manager of The Ocean Cleanup, said that "advanced technology and international cooperation play an essential role in effectively handling plastic waste in rivers, especially in countries with large sources of plastic waste."

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phung Chi Sy, Vice President of the Vietnam Association for Conservation of Nature and Environment, also presented the possibility of maintaining and replicating river waste collection technologies. He emphasized that for these solutions to be widely deployed, adjustments need to be made to suit the actual conditions of each locality.

Experts in the workshop recommended perfecting the legal framework to maintain and replicate sustainable solutions for collecting waste in rivers, canals, and ditches in many other localities. At the same time, the workshop also recommended strengthening cooperation between the public and private sectors, along with support from international organizations, to accelerate the green transition process and achieve the goal of reducing 75% of plastic waste in the sea by 2030.

For media inquires, please contact: 
Phan Huong Giang 
Media and Communications Analyst, Climate Change and Environment 
UNDP Viet Nam,
Tel: +84 948466688
Email: phan.huong.giang@undp.org