WWF-Vietnam commits to cutting plastic waste to transform Hue city into a green metropolis

On the morning of November 15, WWF-Vietnam organized a closing workshop for the project "Hue - A Plastic Smart City in Central Vietnam" (TVA) to review achievements over more than three years of implementation (2021-2024) and plan for 2025.

Between 2021 and 2024, the project "Hue - A Plastic Smart City in Central Vietnam" (TVA) implemented approximately 112 key activities with 3,550 on-ground initiatives. It engaged 90 agencies, organizations, professional associations, and innovation groups receiving funding.

In the opening speech, WWF-Vietnam's CEO, Mr Van Ngoc Thinh summarized the three years of collaboration with Hue city. With the goal of enhancing waste sorting at the source, the project achieved impressive milestones: collecting 570 tons of plastic waste leaked into the environment, surpassing 265% of the original target; equipping 295 waste sorting stations for plastic and solid waste; raising awareness on waste sorting at source for nearly 26,000 households; training 742 key propagators across 31 localities; and reducing and sorting waste at source in tourism, agriculture, and aquaculture sectors.

CEO of WWF-Vietnam also stated that with funding from the Norwegian people, the extension of the project until 2025 is an encouraging achievement, enabling Hue to continue striving to become a shining example of sustainable development and green tourism in Southeast Asia.

WWF-Vietnam's initiative to connect and reduce plastic waste aims to eliminate plastic leakage into nature by 2030. Hue has also become the seventh city to pledge a 30% reduction in plastic waste leakage into the environment by 2024. With a development approach that balances modern, integrated infrastructure with the preservation of its unique cultural values, Hue city has been highly regarded by many international organizations for its efforts in building a green and sustainable city.

Mrs. Hilde Solbakken, the Norwegian Ambassador in Vietnam, expressed admiration for the project's accomplishments, particularly the collection of 570 tons of plastic waste. She emphasized the project's success stems from multi-stakeholder collaboration among local authorities, schools, the tourism sector, research institutions, and communities.

The project "Hue - A Plastic Smart City in Central Vietnam" (TVA) is one of the top priorities in the Norwegian Embassy’s policies in Vietnam. In 2022, Norwegian citizens contributed over USD 22 million to ocean cleanup initiatives, with USD 2.2 million allocated to WWF-Vietnam and the TVA project.

"The Norwegian Embassy will continue expanding the scope of the project throughout the city in 2025. The project has been profoundly inspiring, contributing to changes in awareness and behavior in a positive direction. Hue will continue to develop in a green and sustainable manner, building on the city’s unique heritage and cultural values", emphasized the Norwegian Ambassador in Vietnam.

In Hue city, schools have implemented various practical and extracurricular activities to raise students' environmental awareness, such as waste sorting, waste audits, and the establishment of green clubs. Phu Thuong Secondary School stands out with programs like The Green House, the “Live Green” Club, and hands-on experiences at Ru Cha. There, students participated in waste collection and experienced a day as sanitation workers, helping to change daily habits and foster a stronger sense of community responsibility.

"During the program, the school conducted waste audits to help students understand the process and importance of waste sorting. Additionally, each student committed to practicing 11 plastic reduction behaviors outlined in a checklist, achieving a 100% participation rate across all 12 student groups. The students’ reuse of plastic bags during their school breakfasts is a clear testament to the shifts in daily consumption habits, laying the foundation for a sustainable future," shared the Vice Principal of Phu Thuong Secondary School.

Designing plastic-free destinations and tours has been a key objective set by Hue city’s tourism sector as part of the project. To achieve this, in 2023, the Tourism Association collaborated with the WWF-Vietnam project to select tours and operators to implement single-use plastic-free tours. They finalized plans for the Luong Quan-Nguyet Bieu tourist site, which includes 16 satellite locations pioneering this initiative, and officially launched it.As of now, the sector has established four plastic waste-reducing tours operated by four travel companies in the area.