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Reducing marine litter: What are the actual challenges in Vietnam?
Vietnam is regarded as one of the countries with the highest amount of plastic waste discharged into the sea. According to a survey in 2015, the volume of plastic waste from Vietnam emitted to the sea fluctuates from 0.28 to 0.73 million tons per year. Besides plastic waste from households and businesses, nets and other fishing gear made of plastic account for a large proportion of marine plastic litter. Plastic waste entering the ocean negatively affects marine biodiversity and the Vietnamese tourism industry, but also the population that depends on fishery as a source of income and food base.
A core reason for marine litter pollution in Vietnam lies at insufficient plastic waste management. This is particularly challenging as Vietnam is one of the top 20 global exporters for plastic products worldwide: Plastic products from Vietnam are delivered to more than 55 different countries. Yet, Vietnamese recycling capacities are limited and mainly focus on processing municipal plastic waste from households and small enterprises: Recycling of fishing gear is still rudimentary. Likewise, at policy level, the focus of national and international efforts to reduce the discharge of plastics into the world's oceans is primarily on the area of packaging and disposable articles. The aspect of inputs from fisheries is not yet adequately taken into account. In addition, campaigns in Vietnam to change the habit of using plastic products and discharging plastic waste have not achieved the desired results.
What contribution does the project make to reducing marine litter?
NET-Works focuses on the reduction of marine litter from abandoned, lost or discharged fishing nets in Vietnamese coastal waters. The project aims to develop a market for recycled raw material from discarded fishing gear; to satisfy the demand of the labour market for qualified employees in the field of recycling; and to increase awareness on marine litter within the Vietnamese society. To achieve this, NET-Works implements a diverse set of actions:
Since accurate data on lost, discarded and abandoned fishing gear does not exist for Vietnam, the project will generate the necessary data. This includes data on material properties along the product life cycle, on the amount of material for recycling and the socio-economic and socio-cultural background in the sector. Based on these data, the project will develop a web-based knowledge platform for politicians, sector employers and the wider public. A major project activity is to develop a collection and sorting system for fishing gear at ports. The implementation of this system is fostered through guidelines and training sessions for fishermen and fishery enterprises. To enable the recycling of collected fishing gear, NET-Works will implement recycling demonstration centres and sites at selected Vietnamese universities and enterprises where recycling procedures are verified, learnt and shared. Also, to educate the various stakeholders, the project implements communication measures on the importance of recycling, such as social media campaigns, a project app, a website, workshops and presentations. The project puts an emphasis on improving cooperation between different stakeholders, so that a strong network is formed that will be able to enforce action on marine litter reduction in the future independently. By advising political partners on technology options and concepts, capacities are created in the political arena to develop a suitable regulatory framework for avoiding marine litter from fishing equipment and for the promotion of sustainable circular economy solutions. To increase environmental expertise and capacities in the long term, NET-Works seeks to improve higher education, research and development on recycling of fishing gear in the academic field.