The People’s Committee of Ward 7 in Phu Nhuan District under Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday launched a community event called ‘Swapping Recycling Trash for Gifts and Plants’ to raise residents’ awareness of environmental protection and plastic waste reduction.

The plastic exchange program took place at Dong Ba Elementary School on Phan Dang Luu Street in Ward 7, as part of the second ‘Joining Hands to Build a Better Community Day 2023.'

The exchange event, despite small acts, brought happiness to residents and benefited the environment.

During the exchange event, the organizer awarded 108 gift sets, 160 scholarships, and a laptop worth some VND100 million (US$4,162) to students and disadvantaged households in the ward.

Besides, the program also featured a zero-dong ao dai (Vietnamese traditional costume) stall, a ‘Sharing Love’ booth, a free-haircut-service stand, and a booth for traffic rule consulting services.

The plastic exchange event was aimed at promoting trash classification and cutting down on single-use plastic bags.

Nguyen Huynh Hai Dang, chairwoman of the Ward 7 People’s Committee, expected such a practical program to quickly draw the attention from individuals, firms, and organizations.

She also hoped that a number of community-driven programs and environmental protection initiatives would be held.

Statistics from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment indicate that Vietnam consumes over 30 billion plastic bags each year, meaning that each household uses five to seven bags a day.

These plastic bags are often used just once and throw away, taking a heavy toll on the environment.

In the country’s two major cities -- Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City -- up to 80 metric tons of plastic garbage is thrown into the environment daily, with plastic bag waste accounting for seven or eight percent of the total.

Ho Chi Minh City alone discharges some 9,800-10,000 metric tons of waste per day.

Three main waste treatment facilities in the city are Vietstar JSC, Tam Sinh Nghia Investment Development JSC, and the Da Phuoc Landfill, with a respective capacity of 1,800 metric tons, 1,000-1,400 metric tons, and 6,000-6,800 metric tons per day.

The city is projected to recycle and generate electricity from some 80 percent of its waste volume by 2025, but technology-based waste treatment projects remain on paper.

As such, the Ho Chi Minh Department of Natural Resources and Environment proposed the municipal People’s Committee consider pushing back the deadline of fulfilling the target by two years.

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