Ngô Tấn Thiện, professional advisor and director of sustainable development of Echogreen Co Ltd. Photo courtesy of Tấn Thiện

With the belief that every material deserves a second life, Echogreen Co Ltd in Đà Nẵng has launched the Echobag project to transform discarded fishing nets into durable, stylish and eco-friendly recycled mesh bags rather than allowing them to drift into the ocean and worsen marine pollution.

Ngô Tấn Thiện, the company’s professional advisor and director of sustainable development, speaks to Việt Nam News reporter Xuân Hương about the project, its positive social impacts and future expansion plans.

Inner Sanctum: What led Echogreen to turn old fishing nets into bags, and how do you see the significance of the Echobag project?

The idea came from our trips along the central coast, where we witnessed many fishermen dumping damaged nets into the sea or on the beaches. Plastic nets are highly durable and can survive in the ocean for hundreds of years, causing serious harm to the marine ecosystem. We thought, rather than allowing them to accumulate as waste, why not give them a second chance at life.

Our project is based on a circular economy model. It begins with collecting and sorting used fishing nets from coastal provinces in central Việt Nam, cleaning them with biological detergents, and recycling them into new material sheets. These sheets are sewn into durable, multi-layered mesh bags.

When a bag reaches the end of its life, customers can exchange it through our “trade-in for new” programme. The old bags are recycled again into products, ensuring a continuous cycle.

The greatest significance of Echobag is reducing plastic waste and helping clean up the oceans. Furthermore, the project creates jobs for local fishermen, especially women and disadvantaged people, helping them earn extra income during their idle time. This is a true cycle: collection, recycling, use, and recollection. I call it a "community circular economy" model.

Inner Sanctum: Can you elaborate on the process of making an Echobag?

Each bag goes through several stages. First is the collection of discarded nets from fishermen, followed by sorting to determine which parts can be reused.

The nets are cleaned with a biological solution, dried and treated to ensure they are safe for users.

A bag typically contains 60 per cent recycled material from old nets. To ensure durability and aesthetic appeal, we incorporate a portion of new netting for the outer layer. As a result, the bag has multiple tightly woven layers, making it sturdy, while the ridges form a design feature.

The sewing process is also entirely manual. The workers cut the nets into pieces, assemble, sew, attach the label, and complete the product. Currently one worker can make 8–10 bags per day, earning about VNĐ30,000 per bag.

This model allows people to take the materials home to work on, similar to traditional handicraft outsourcing, which is very suitable for fishermen or housewives in coastal areas.

Used fishing nets from central Việt Nam are cleaned, recycled and crafted into multi-layered Echobags, giving ocean waste a sustainable second life. Photo courtesy of Tấn Thiện

Inner Sanctum: How is the community responding to the product, and what are your current product lines?

We initially focused on shopping bags since they meet an everyday need and directly replace single-use plastic bags. The current selling price is about VNĐ129,000 (US$4.9) per bag, with a minimum lifespan of three years.

In addition to shopping bags, Echobag has now developed various other products, such as laptop bags, school backpacks, fashion bags, and sports bags to meet diverse consumer needs.

What makes me happiest is the strong community support. Many customers say they feel proud to carry a bag "with a story" that is both beautiful and contributes to environmental protection.

We have also received orders from supermarkets, convenience stores and several international environmental protection organisations.

On the occasion of World Environment Day on June 1 the Đà Nẵng City Department of Natural Resources and Environment ordered 100 bags to distribute to the community, spreading the message of plastic waste reduction.

Inner Sanctum: We hear you are planning to expand this project. Can you tell us more?

Over the next three years we aim to mobilise about VNĐ17 billion ($645,249) to scale up the project. Specifically, we plan to produce 30,000 shopping bags and 100,000 source-separated waste bags for community distribution each year to replace single-use plastic bags.

In the second year we will build a processing and recycling facility for the discarded nets. This will make the process more closed-loop, reduce the cost of buying new raw materials and increase production capacity.

By the third year the goal is to standardise the process and replicate it in other coastal provinces such as Quảng Ngãi and Quảng Trị.

I hope that in every coastal locality, the community can self-implement this model to both handle local waste and create sustainable livelihoods.

Looking further ahead Echobag won’t stop at bags. We aim to expand into other eco-friendly products, turning waste into resources and making environmental protection awareness a natural habit in daily life.

Inner Sanctum: What long-term impact do you hope Echobag will have on society, and how does it contribute to Việt Nam’s sustainability and Net Zero goals?

Eco-mesh bags made from old fishing nets on display at a green transformation forum in HCM City, showcasing Việt Nam’s shift toward circular and community-based sustainability. VNS Photo

The project is closely tied to our "Environmental Appreciation Day" programme series, which feature activities such as exchanging waste for eco-bags and communication activities to raise awareness and promote environmental protection.

Local fishermen and residents are not only beneficiaries but also key drivers of change by directly participating in the collection, sorting and recycling of old nets to create new mesh bags.

The eco-mesh bag has become both a green product and a symbol of the circular economy, transforming discarded materials into durable, attractive and useful items that re-enter the market.

Socially, the project creates jobs for women, people with disabilities, young workers, and coastal fishermen involved in collecting, cleaning and producing the bags. It’s a community-based green economy model that increases incomes and encourages people to participate in ocean protection.

The product is distributed through supermarkets, traditional markets and eco-tourism destinations.

Beyond its environmental value, the eco-mesh bag serves as an ESG (environmental-social-governance) solution for businesses.

It is estimated that each reusable net bag can replace hundreds of single-use plastic bags, thereby reducing plastic waste and greenhouse gas emissions from virgin plastic production.

This initiative represents a practical step toward implementing Việt Nam’s National Strategy on Green Growth and Greenhouse Gas Reduction.

This initiative represents a practical step towards implementing Việt Nam’s National Strategy on Green Growth and Greenhouse Gas Reduction.

A key highlight of the project is its transferability and scalability. The model is designed in a "packaged" format with training materials, technical solutions and operational guidelines, making it easy to replicate in other coastal areas.

Coastal regions most affected by marine waste will be prioritised for replication, forming community-based green production clusters.

With a long-term vision, the project goes beyond simply replacing plastic bags, it contributes directly to Việt Nam’s road map for Net Zero by 2050.

Each bag serves as a reminder that protecting the environment is a shared responsibility, a collective step toward a cleaner, greener and more sustainable future. VNS