Supporting women in solid waste management to tackle marine debris

Danang is one of the fastest growing cities and is often hailed as the most attractive and dynamic economy of Vietnam with 92 km of coastline. Over the last 10 years, Danang population increased by nearly 40%, current total... [ view full abstract ]

Danang is one of the fastest growing cities and is often hailed as the most attractive and dynamic economy of Vietnam with 92 km of coastline. Over the last 10 years, Danang population increased by nearly 40%, current total population of the city has reached around 1.1 million people. Although this means added engine for growth, the downside is an increased amount of solid waste. According to a report by Danang’s Urban Environment Company (URENCO), of the more than 335,000 tons of solid waste generated in Danang in 2015, approximately 80% is collected and around 67,000 tons are not collected. This poses a big challenge for the city as uncollected waste, particularly plastics, leak into the ocean and threaten aquaculture as well as tourism development. Solid waste has become one of the biggest challenges to marine conservation in Danang.

To address in problem, the Women’s Union initiated an at-source solid waste segregation scheme. Members of Women's Union conducted an information, education and communication campaign to raise awareness of waste segregation and recycling. The scheme helps increase waste collection and recycling rate by providing waste segregation tools and encouraging households to segregate organic and recyclable waste. In addition, the scheme generates a sustainable stream of income for community’s work. In 2017, Center for Environment and Community Research - a local NGO - provided technical and financial support to the Women's Union to scale up this initiative through establishing a strategic partnership between the communities, recycling centers and the city of Danang’s solid waste department for better coordination and implementation of waste management and marine conservation.

Through this case study of Danang, this presentation will highlight the contribution and challenges to women in the waste management sector and marine conservation. In Danang and other parts of Vietnam, women play a significant role in all stages of waste management: including collecting, sorting out, recycling and treating waste. Women pioneer in solid waste segregation and recycling in communities. Women are also disproportionately employed in the waste sector, both formally and informally, often at the lowest level.

Drawing out lessons-learned from the scaling up of the women-led community’s model, the presentation will also provide implications for policy to support women and community participation in the waste management sector and marine conservation.