Plastic Waste Generation and Management in Thoi Lai District, Can Tho City, Vietnam

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the current situation of generation and management of plastic waste in Thoi Lai district, Can Tho city, Vietnam through collecting domestic solid waste samples from 30 households and interviewing 150 households using questionaires. The results showed that the average amount of domestic solid waste was 0.3 kg/person/day, in which the plastic waste accounted for 11.7% with generation rate of 0.035 kg/person/day. Shopping bags were dominant accounting for 34.7%, single-use plastic products accounting for 18.5% and food packaging plastic bags accounting for 9.51%. The generation rates of domestic solid waste and plastic waste had positive correlation with household’s size and income. In addition, the rate of plastic waste generation also appeared to have a relationship with the characteristics of the study area. Plastic waste has not been classified but it is mixed with other domestic solid waste. Knowledge of plastic waste impact has not been widely propagated in the community. Therefore, appropriate measures should be implemented to reduce municipal waste and plastic wastes.