The Norwegian Embassy and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) on June 17 signed an agreement for a new project to scale up waste management models in Vietnam.

Entitled Scaling-up Integrated and Inclusive Waste Management Models through Empowering the Informal Sector and Fostering the Circular Economy, the three-year project will provide direct support for informal waste workers, a management model in the fishery sector, and an ecosystem-level approach of value chains through the establishment of a material recovery facility, which will be piloted in Quy Nhon city of the south-central province of Binh Dinh.

Financed by the Norwegian government with a grant of US$1.3 million, the project illustrates the strong commitment and extensive collaboration between Norway and the UNDP to tackle the growing issue of waste management in Vietnam and accelerate the transition to an inclusive circular economy.

It is the continuation of the first phase of the successful Norway-funded project on scaling up a model of domestic waste and plastic management involving private resources, which aimed at developing integrated, green, and fair models to improve domestic waste and plastic management in five Vietnamese localities including Quang Ninh, Binh Duong, Binh Thuan, Binh Dinh, and Danang.

Grete Lochen, Norwegian Ambassador to Vietnam (left), and Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP resident representative in Vietnam (right), signs a deal to implement a project on scaling up waste management models in the country. Photo: UNDP

“We are very happy with the success of phase 1 of the project and to see the project being expanded. It is great that more local communities, particularly women, will take part in the common efforts to tackle plastic waste and build a circular economy. This is very important in the context of post-pandemic green recovery,” said Grete Lochen, Norwegian Ambassador to Vietnam.

She added that her country is proud to partner with the UNDP in Vietnam and the Vietnamese government to take actions to combat plastic waste, build back greener, and leave no one behind.

The three-year project or "Phase 2 project" responds to the need of scaling up local waste and recycling collection centers that respect environmental and social standards while engaging the informal sector in waste collection and segregation.

Through the project, community capacity for waste management will be enhanced when supported by an effective enabling environment and the adoption by municipalities and businesses of the circular economy principles.

“The UNDP is proud of our strong partnership with the Vietnamese government and the Norwegian government for accelerating circular economy. This new phase of the project will strengthen waste and plastic value chains in Quy Nhon by establishing a material recovery facility, a waste management model in the fishery sector, and piloting a portfolio of interventions to boost the livelihoods and inclusion of waste workers, particularly women,” said Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP resident representative in Vietnam.

According to her, the project targets two objectives which are the implementation of sustainable models of waste management that increase livelihoods of waste workers (with a focus on women informal workers) and scaling up sustainable and inclusive waste management models and interventions through replication support, capacity development and knowledge-sharing.