The plan is the result of a partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) aimed at reducing non-biodegradable waste.

VnExpress reports that Phu Yen Province on the south-central coast has become Vietnam's second region to join the Urban Plastic Reduction Program.

Accordingly, an action plan which hopes to reduce plastic waste in the province by 30% by 2025 has been created. Nguyen Chi Hien, vice chairman of the Phu Yen People's Committee, told the news source that it has five components, including communication campaigns aimed at locals; education programs for children; and trial programs to collect, sort and transport plastic waste to selected sites.

Officials will also create an organization which monitors plastic waste and a system to manage such waste, while also fostering research to analyze and improve the effort.

Ta Dinh Thi, general director of the General Department of Sea and Islands, said: "Vietnam has a relatively adequate legal framework for waste management in general. But supervision, inspection and control are difficult and ineffective." 

The news source also cites a 2018 study from the Center for Northern Environmental Monitoring which found that solid waste in Phu Yen was increasing 10-16% per year, while a WWF survey in Tuy Hoa, the provincial capital, estimated 20% of local solid waste was plastic.

Phu Quoc became Vietnam's first location to join the WWF program, and the third in Southeast Asia after Patong, Thailand and Donsol, the Philippines.

Countries throughout the world are reckoning with how to handle growing volumes of plastic waste, with coastal regions particularly hard-hit.

[Photo: A trash-filled pavement in Phu Quoc]