In early March, the Center for Supporting Green Development (GreenHub) had a meeting with the leaders of Cai Rang District People's Committee and the Department of Environmental Protection of Can Tho City on the pilot process of the circular economy model at floating markets in Can Tho City.

The circular economy model at floating markets in Can Tho City is part of the "For a Garbage-Free Mekong River" project chaired by GreenHub and coordinated by the Center for Research on Resources and Rural Development (RECERD). This is an initiative focusing on river waste management in Can Tho, with the aim of piloting the promotion of the circular economy model, focusing on turning waste into resources, promoting people to collect, classify, reuse and recycle waste, in order to maximize the time of product use, and limit negative impacts on the environment.

Launched in May 2022, the project has organized a training course on waste collection for 40 traders in the floating market area, supported 27 households to pilot the production of biological hand sanitizer, and donated 97 trash bins to households living along the river and on trading boats. The project also focuses on supporting the model of daily waste collection, transportation and treatment in the floating market. Thanks to the project, waste from floating rafts on the river has been reduced to 100% in 2022.

In addition, the project also promotes communication, raises awareness and classifies and collects waste, creating positive changes in people's behavior in classifying and collecting waste on the river.

At the meeting, the parties also actively discussed measures to maintain this activity, researched a model of waste transfer points to reduce daily collection costs.

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The project is sponsored by Dow Chemical Vietnam Co., Ltd. (Dow Vietnam) and implemented by the Center for Supporting Green Development (GreenHub) and the Research Center for Natural Resources and Rural Development (RECERD) with the support and companionship of the People's Committee of Can Tho City and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Can Tho City.