Recently, Ha Long City, Quang Ninh Province held EPPIC Week to encourage people to use green products, reduce plastic waste and promote sustainable tourism development.

The event was jointly organized by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Quang Ninh Provincial Farmers’ Union, with the active participation of the Quang Ninh Provincial Women’s Union and the Quang Ninh Provincial Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Ninh, Board of Directors of Halong Bay, Tourism Association, Cruise Ship Association, National Innovation Center (NIC), Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW)…

MANY PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES

The EPPIC week was full of activities. In particular, the campaign to exchange rubbish for gifts in the EPPIC store met with an enthusiastic response from the population. Garbage collection and classification activities on Hon Gai Beach attract a large number of people to participate. Immediately after the implementation of the litter collection and classification activities in the beach area, a seminar was held with an informal working group to strengthen the connection of the participating litter collection associations/groups. Waste Project 5 Cities (5C project).

Ms. Ramla Khalidi – Chief Resident Representative of UNDP Vietnam stressed: “It is time for society to recognize and support the contributions of informal waste treatment workers to the country’s waste management system. Vietnam.” Combined with effective community mobilization and awareness campaigns, they have the potential to be an important part of the transition to green and inclusive cities.”

Mr. Nguyen Van Duong, vice chairman of the Quang Ninh Provincial Farmers’ Union, said that the implementation of one component of the project “Building a Model for Community Management of Plastic Waste Collection and Treatment in the Coastal Area of ​​Halong Bay” was funded by UNDP. With support from the Quang Ninh Provincial Farmers’ Association, a model of a group of women washing bottles has been developed. To date, 7 tick and bottle branches with 153 members have been established in 7 districts of Ha Long city.

“Before building the project, we conducted a survey to understand the living situation, income and activities of the sisters who work as bottle dealers. We found that they work very hard and their income is very low, only 3-4 million VND. /Month. Since the implementation of the project, their income is much higher than before and currently averages 5-6 million VND/month. “There are many women who work hard, have good contacts and earn up to VND 7-8 million per month,” Mr Duong said.

BEAUTIFUL, HIGHLY EFFICIENT INITIALITY

During the EPPIC week, many lectures and discussions take place alternately. In particular, the seminar “Promoting the use of environmentally friendly products for sustainable tourism development” and the seminar “Promoting innovative solutions to reduce plastic waste” attracted a large number of participants. Many companies are actively involved, many creative solutions are presented.

Ms. Do Diem Chau, Director of Galaxy Biotech, said the idea Galaxy Biotech is bringing to EPPIC is a breath bag, a biodegradable bag that helps extend the shelf life of food. Vegetable and fruit foods in particular stay fresher for longer.

Ms. Tran Thi Thoa, Director of mGreen Social Services Joint Stock Company, introduced the intelligent solution for managing waste classification at source and collection of recyclable waste, saying that the group learned from the technology platform. Ordering a car through the Grab network, programming mGreen The team has developed a smartphone-based technology solution to help people get excited about waste sorting.

The mGreen solution consists of three main components: the mGreen mobile application for waste source owners; mGreen Collector application for garbage collectors; mPoint Shop application for affiliate shops when redeeming gifts or selling affiliate products.

With the mGreen application for waste source owners, it has helped establish and improve the habit of separating waste at source. The app also creates jobs and livelihoods for recycling, bottle and garbage collectors, and rubbish pickers. The mGreen solution also builds an ecosystem to support socially responsible businesses on the mobile application platform and customer care platform linked with loyalty communication.

According to Ms. Thoa, mGreen has been operating in the Vietnamese market for five years so far and has become a pioneer in exchanging garbage for gifts, collecting recyclables and leading digital technology for manure management. waste at source. Currently, more than 15,000 households use the source sorting application and more than 100 collectors use this application to support their work.

So far, the mGreen solution has been deployed in many other cities such as Vung Tau, Hue, Da Nang and Ha Long. Furthermore, every model we implement is a public-private partnership, the connection between local government and business and the social community with the provinces just mentioned,” Ms. Thoa said.

The mGreen application is supported by many companies working together to meet the extended responsibility of manufacturers such as Unilever, Nestle or Long Son Petrochemical Co., Ltd., LSP, SCG Vietnam Group South, etc. International organizations such as UNDP, WWF ; Together with government bodies such as the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, we have also supported and supported the project and mGreen Company in consulting practice. Present and propose guidelines for implementation in localities.