With the desire to contribute to reducing the amount of waste going into Can Tho River and improving economic efficiency for people through the circular economy model, the project "For a Zero-Waste Mekong River - Piloting a circular economy model at floating markets in Can Tho" has been implemented by the Center for Supporting Green Development (GreenHub) and the Center for Research on Resources and Rural Development (RECERD) in Can Tho since March 2022, with funding from DOW Chemical Vietnam Company. After 8 months of official operation, the project has contributed to promoting the process of collecting, classifying, reusing and recycling waste, limiting the negative impact of waste on the environment.

At Cai Rang Floating Market, the pilot program of classifying waste at the source and establishing a system to collect household waste of households living permanently on the river has been tested. Joining hands in responding to the program, households living here have proactively classified to take advantage of recycling waste; The remaining amount of garbage is collected daily and put into the city's general transportation and treatment system. Ms. Bay - a garbage collector at Cai Rang floating market confided: "People here are used to throwing garbage into the river, but when I tell them to keep the garbage, they cooperate to keep the garbage for me to collect". Along with that, a large amount of coconut shells in the Floating Market area are supplied directly to livestock processing facilities in the district for fuel. The amount of garbage collected from the implementation (from mid-September 2022) to mid-December 2022 is about 3 tons of garbage including plastic waste, organic waste (coconut shells) and other garbage. The amount of garbage collected through clean-ups at Cai Rang floating market: 4.8 tons of garbage (including plastic waste, organic waste and other garbage). The model applied in Cai Rang is not only highly effective in reducing the amount of garbage directly discharged into the river but also provides effective input for economic activities in the area.

In Con Son, aiming to raise awareness among residents and tourists about environmental protection and combating plastic waste pollution, the project has accompanied the Con Son community to set up a waste sorting collection point for the area. This action contributes to maximizing the recovery of recyclable waste here.

In addition, the project also supports providing information to the public about plastic waste through the Game Zone and information boards along the route.

With the efforts to promote action from the implementing parties and local authorities, the people on Con Son have done a good job of classifying and reusing waste, in which, recyclable waste is accumulated and sold to increase income, organic waste and leftover food are used for garden-pond-cage models in the area, directly contributing to improving the effectiveness of the program's goals.

Mr. Mai Hong Su, Head of Area 1 of Con Son, shared: “After being propagandized, mobilized and tested the model, the local people all want a household waste collection and transportation chain to be established to contribute to maintaining environmental hygiene and developing Con Son into a bright spot for environmentally friendly tourism”. Mr. Su also said that the project “For a Zero-Waste Mekong River - Piloting a circular economic model at floating markets in Can Tho” has had effective implementation steps in the Cai Rang and Con Son areas, contributing to strongly changing people's awareness of protecting the living environment and directly promoting the development of a circular economic model in the locality.

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📌 The project: "For a garbage-free Mekong River - Piloting a circular economic model at floating markets in Can Tho" has been effectively implemented in Cai Rang and Con Son areas, contributing to strongly changing people's awareness of protecting the living environment and directly promoting the development of the current circular economic model.