New approach to reduce plastic waste in Vu Gia-Thu Bồn River
Up to 9.1 tonnes of potential plastic waste was being dumped into the Vu Gia-Thu Bồn River basin, one of nine largest river systems in Việt Nam, each day, equating to 2,600 tonnes each year.
The information was included in a report on waste management released by a group of experts at a workshop themed ‘Foundations for Source-to-Sea Management: Addressing Solid Waste in Vu Gia-Thu Bồn River Basin” in Hội An late last week.
Vũ Thu Hà from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) said the survey was carried in 15 districts and cities along the river system from Quảng Nam Province to Đà Nẵng City in October 2019, and found that 10-25 per cent of all waste could end up in the water system each day.
“We estimate that the 2.1 million people living in the river basin area release 1,649 tonnes of waste each day, of which 236 tonnes is not collected. Uncollected plastic waste accounts for 38.6 tonnes of that, while only 2.1 tonnes of plastic waste is recycled,” Hà said.
