Local people joint hands to clean up beaches in the central city of Đà Nẵng. VNA/VNS Photo Văn Dũng

ĐÀ NẴNG More than 2,000 people have taken part in a programme to clean beaches in the central city of Đà Nẵng.

The programme, part of activities to respond to the “Clean Up the World” Campaign 2019, was organised on Saturday to collect trash around Thọ Quang fishing port – one of the most polluted areas of the city.

It is expected to raise public awareness of the harm of plastic waste to the economy, society, environment and people’s health, while calling for the community to reduce plastic waste for a greener environment.

Lê Trung Chinh, vice chairman of the Đà Nẵng People’s Committee said: “Đà Nẵng has faced many problems in managing and treating domestic solid waste and deal with pollution hotspots.

“In recent years, the amount of domestic solid waste in Đà Nẵng has risen rapidly to over 1,100 tonnes per day, while the ratio of plastic waste also increased about 5-14 per cent.”

Meanwhile, the infrastructure for the collection and treatment of solid waste in the city has yet to meet requirements, Chinh added.

He called on all localities, agencies, organisations, businesses and individuals in the city to collaborate to build a green and clean city with specific and practical actions.

The “Clean Up the World” campaign was first launched by Australia in 1993 and has become a global campaign involving more than 130 countries around the world.

In Việt Nam, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has chosen “local actions, global influence” as the theme for the 2019 campaign, focusing on reducing plastic waste.

Việt Nam aims to have all urban supermarkets, markets and shops free from single-use plastic products in 2021, and a country without disposable plastic products in 2025.

Thirty trash bins were given to the city by the environmental ministry on the same day. VNS