Da Nang is generously endowed by the Mother Nature with many beautiful beaches, especially the My Khe Beach, which was voted one of the six most beautiful beaches in the world by the US Forbes Magazine in 2005. Such a huge privilege enables Da Nang to boost its economic development, especially beach leisure and cruise tourism segments. Keeping beaches clean and beautiful is to preserve precious treasure the nature bestows on Da Nang.

Residents from Thanh Khe District geting involved in the cleanup of Nguyen Tat Thanh Beach

According to the Sea and Island Research Institute under the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MONRE), plastic waste accounts for 50-80 % of ocean waste, and more than 80% of plastics waste originates from the mainland, while the rest is discharged directly in the sea.

Annually, Viet Nam churns out the fourth largest volume of plastic waste in the world, with about 0.28 - 0.73 million tonnes / year, equivalent to about 6% of the total plastic waste volume discharged into the sea.

Da Nang has recorded a high socio-economic development rate in Central Viet Nam, with rapid urbanisation resulting in plastic waste problems.

According to the Da Nang Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, each day Da Nang generates more than 1,100 tonnes of waste. On average, Da Nang beaches welcome 3,000 - 5,000 visitors every day, and these figure may double or even triple on holidays and other festive occasions.

Every day, staff from the Da Nang Urban Environment Joint Stock Company collect a total of up to 8 tonnes of waste along the city coast, mainly a large amount of plastic waste.

In the face of growing public concern about environmental issues, every simple deed is really essential to make something special in order to change the minds of the public about environmental protection. Notably, the proper collection and handling of waste properly across Da Nang in recent times has been highly appreciated by the general public.

With the aim of keeping beaches clean and attractive, in addition to tasks fulfilled by functional local bodies, recent times have seen the active and enthusiastic engagement by organisations and agencies, plus young volunteers across Da Nang, in clean-up campaigns. 

Found in 2015, Let's Do It! Viet Nam (LDI) is a nationwide campaign, operating in three Vietnamese regions, with a focus Viet Nam’s three largest cities- Ha Noi, Da Nang and HCM City. According to assessments by the founding members of LDI, Da Nang is one of the Vietnamese cities to pioneer in addressing environmental issues, so it was selected as the starting place of this campaign.

An environmental publicity session conducted by Let's Do it! Da Nang

Since 2018, along with LDI's common goals, Let's Do It! Da Nang has effectively conducted highly practical activities to reduce the discharge of plastic waste into the environment. Focus has been on organising talkshows between experts / KOLs (key opinion leaders) and Da Nang residents, and the display of environmentally friendly items for daily use.

More recently, a group of students from the Da Nang University of Science and Technology has won the ‘Best Project Presentation’prize, one of the three prizes in the Ho Chi Minh City-held eProjects Innovation Showcase 2020 for their ‘Smart Water Trash’ project.

The project has come up with a solution to pick up plastic waste, automatically check water quality and considerably save fuel.

This is an interdisciplinary scientific and technological research product involved in the aspects of mechanical engineering, automation control, and information technology.

Le Truong Lam, the team leader, said the machine can clean the water environment, save energy, and sort out the trash. The highlight of the scavenging machine is the application of artificial intelligence (AI) by introducing garbage identification and location features. The collected garbage is classified into two separate categories: recyclable and non-recyclable waste.

Meanwhile, the Management Board of the Son Tra Peninsula and Da Nang tourist beaches has worked with other relevant agencies, businesses, organisations and individuals in the community to carry out a large number of environmental protection-themed activities.

In particular, such activities as the swapping recyclable trash for lovely gifts and picking up the liter have attracted the active participation of hundreds of locals and tourists.

By QUYNH TRANG- Translated by A.T