Over the past time, the Da Nang Department of Natural Resources and the Environment has been active in strengthening international cooperation to mobilize resources in a bid to help the city effectively implement its project 'Building Da Nang into an Environmentally-friendly City' for the 2021 - 2030 period.

The Da Nang Department of Natural Resources and the Environment organized an online signing ceremony to launch the ‘Join hands to protect water resources’ and ‘Local solutions for plastic pollution’ projects which are funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Photo: HOANG HIEP

Many waste management support projects

In late December 2021, the iDE Organization Viet Nam, a non-governmental organisation, cooperated with the Da Nang government to carry out a project on creating a sustainable circular economy for plastic waste in Viet Nam. The DKK 10 million project was funded by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA).

Under the project, from now until February 2024, the focus is on building a circular economy for plastics, ensuring a stable supply of input plastic waste for output production activities in the value chain, and increasing output demand for products made from recycled plastics and disposable plastics.

Director of the Project Office of iDE in Viet Nam Nguyen Van Quang highlighted the great efforts made by the Da Nang authorities in boosting bilateral cooperation and finding specific solutions to solve the plastic waste problem. He also highly praised the initiative of the city in implementing the project 'Building Da Nang into an Environmentally-friendly City' for the 2021 - 2030 period.

Director Quang said that iDE committed to implementing the project in Da Nang with the goal of increasing 25% of profits for all economic sectors participating in the plastic waste ecosystem; collecting, processing and consuming 3,500 tons of plastic waste; increasing the rate of plastic recovery from plastic waste to 35% (currently less than 15%); and pouring about DKK3 million (about VND11.3 billion) into building the city’s plastic waste economy.

It can be seen that the aforementioned goals promise to make an important contribution to the successful implementation of the project 'Building Da Nang into an Environmentally-friendly City' for the 2021 - 2030 period.

Previously, Da Nang authorities have just given a nod to implement a 3-R (reduce, reuse and recycle) project in the city during the 2021-2024 period.

As part of the bilateral cooperation programme with Japan’s Yokohama City on enhancing solid waste management and recycling in Da Nang, the VND15.63 billion project is funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Moreover, the ‘Join hands to protect water resources’ and ‘Local solutions for plastic pollution’ projects are being carried out in Da Nang. Both are funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) at a total cost of more than VND 13 billion.

Also, the city has been on way to implement a project on developing the pilot model on integrated waste management to reduce waste volume, optimize classification and recycling at source in Ngu Hanh Son and Hoa Vang districts. The VND3.5 billion project is funded by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Lots of in-depth technical support

Not only has Da Nang attracted much attention from international organizations, it has been invited to join regional and global environmental networks.

On December 3, 2021, Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi, the Secretary General of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) in Southeast Asia sent a letter requesting Da Nang to join the GCoM network sponsored by the European Union during the 2021-2023 period.

In his invitation letter, the Secretary-General emphasized “Participating in the GCoM Network will give a chance for cities to connect with different resources to implement their local climate change action plans in the years ahead. We look forward to the participation of Da Nang in the GCoM Network to achieve good results in the near future.”

Deputy Director of the Sub-Department of Environmental Protection Nguyen Thi Kim Ha expressed her hope that Da Nang would attract more new projects on climate change adaptation as it joined the GCoM Network, thereby helping to increase environment protection resources for the city.

Over the past time, the city has accelerated the implementation of 9 international cooperation projects, totaling more than VND70 billion, on solid waste management, waste separation at source, plastic waste management, etc. over the 2021-2024 period.

Notably, the city has also received valuable in-depth technical support from organizations, partners and experts from both home and abroad.

Reporting by HOANG HIEP - Translating by M.DUNG