Ha Long Bay Management Board issued Document No. 598/BQLVHL-NVNC dated July 17, 2019 to businesses, organizations, and individuals operating services, tourism, and aquaculture in Ha Long Bay regarding coordination in implementing activities to implement the "Anti-plastic waste" movement in Ha Long Bay.
Single-use plastic products such as bottles, cups, and straws will be replaced with recyclable, reusable, and environmentally friendly materials. This is one of the proposals from the Ha Long Bay Management Board (Quang Ninh) to businesses, organizations, and individuals operating services, tourism, and aquaculture in the bay, to be implemented from this month.
Accordingly, garbage needs to be classified at the facility and then collected and brought to shore for treatment according to regulations; units must limit the use and gradually replace plastic products in daily life and business on the bay and communicate this action to tourists.
Currently, some service businesses in Ha Long have switched to preparing large water bottles and asking customers to get water from the bottles, reusing water bottles. In addition, disposable plastic items such as cups and straws are also being replaced by materials such as paper, stainless steel, bamboo...
Previously, the Ha Long Bay Management Board held a meeting with businesses and cooperatives operating here to seek solutions to protect the environment and develop tourism products. Mr. Pham Dinh Huynh, Deputy Head of the Bay Management Board, called on businesses to raise the sense of responsibility for crew members, employees and tourists in protecting the environment, preserving and promoting the heritage value of Ha Long Bay.
According to the bay management board, the average amount of garbage collected in the bay is more than 1,000 tons per year. In the first half of 2019, this unit collected and processed more than 573 tons of garbage from coastal and offshore areas of the bay, most of which were plastic items such as bottles, plastic bags, and Styrofoam buoys.
The "Anti-plastic waste" movement to protect the environment has recently spread strongly in society and received many positive responses. Limiting waste from plastic and nylon bags is an urgent requirement not only in Vietnam but also in countries around the world.
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According to statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in 2018, Vietnam discharged more than 1.8 million tons of untreated plastic waste, accounting for nearly 6% of the world's plastic waste. In terms of the amount of plastic waste discharged into the ocean alone, Vietnam ranked 4th in the world last year, at 0.28 - 0.73 million tons, making the pollution situation in Vietnam increasingly dangerous. The World Economic Forum (WEF) ranked Vietnam's tourism competitiveness index 129/136 in terms of environmental sustainability.
