HÀ NỘI —  Fourteen photos have been selected from thousands of entries to win awards at a photo contest featuring the plastic and environment in Việt Nam.   

The photo contest, themed ‘Story of Plastic Waste’, was organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Although the winners were previously announced, due to COVID the awards ceremony only took place in Hà Nội on Monday.

The main prizes were awarded to the three best works; "Vấn nạn rác thải nhựa” (Plastic Waste Problem) by Nguyễn Đoàn Kết, "Vị giám đốc trẻ mê nhặt rác” ở Đà Nẵng: 10 năm dọn vệ sinh không công dưới đáy biển" (The young director who loves to pick up trash in Đà Nẵng: 10 years of unpaid cleaning in the seabed) by Nguyễn Giang Nam and “Tái chế nhựa” (Plastic Recycling) by Trần Văn Túy.

A photo from the prize-winning photo series "The young director who loves to pick up trash in Đà Nẵng" by Nguyễn Giang Nam. — Photo courtesy of the photographer

The photo contest received 8,434 works from many different sources, including students and lecturers of more than 40 universities, colleges and high schools; journalists from more than 30 press agencies; photographers of the Việt Nam Association of Photographic Artists and more than 20 local photography clubs across the country.

It was organised to raise public awareness about the management of household and plastic waste, thereby making people and businesses more aware of the negative impacts of improper waste management on human health and the environment.

In addition, UNDP also introduced to the public the application Săn Rác (Garbage Hunting) - a mobile application to report and monitor all illegal, spontaneous landfills in Việt Nam. Users can take photos and record information on the application about illegal garbage spots on the "Garbage Hunting" Map, thereby helping local authorities, stakeholders and people to handle them promptly. VNS