MWRP Vietnam: Moving Toward Plastic-Free Island Living

In the southern offshore area of Vietnam lies the palm-lined Phu Quoc Island, a district of Kien Giang province. Rich in biodiversity, the island includes both a terrestrial national park and a marine protected area. White sandy beaches attract tourists from around the world. However, the burgeoning tourism industry, combined with limited infrastructure, inadequate public sector solid waste management (SWM) capacity, and poor recycling practices, negatively impacts the island’s marine environment. Ocean plastic pollution spoils beaches, causes coral reef abrasion, and harms sea creatures.

Promoting Plastic Waste Reduction Strategies

To improve SWM on the island, USAID funded the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Vietnam) through the Municipal Waste Recycling Program (MWRP) to protect small islands and coral reefs from ocean plastic pollution. WWF-Vietnam developed awareness campaigns to share new plastic waste collection and handling practices with fishing boat owners; helped government officials monitor and enforce waste collection regulations; and informed teachers and students of the impact of plastic pollution on the environment.

WWF-Vietnam also installed 50 recycling containers in schools which motivated students to begin collecting and storing recyclable plastic materials for resale to local buyers. WWF-Vietnam encouraged 4,000 households and establishments to adopt new behaviors, such as waste separation and recycling, and successfully engaged 10,000 youth to help combat plastic pollution.

Jolting Businesses into Reducing Plastic Use

WWF-Vietnam collaborated with the local governing body, District People’s Committee (DPC), to create an island-wide public-private partnership to address solid waste and recycling issues. The partnership attracted the Phu Quoc Chamber of Commerce and 20 large hotels and small tourism businesses, which joined as members. These businesses signed pledges to introduce alternatives to single-use plastics and began using materials such as rice, lemongrass, bamboo, and steel for food and beverage packaging instead.

A major achievement of the partnership was supporting the Phu Quoc DPC to pass an island-wide “Marine Debris Action Plan until 2025” to change behaviors regarding the production, consumption, and disposal of plastic products and to provide recommendations on the collection and handling of solid waste.