Pilot project of Litter Trap in Hau River sponsored by Clear Rivers (the Netherlands)

Representatives of Clear Rivers presented the pilot project of Litter Trap in Hau River in Can Tho City.

On 11 January 2022, Deputy Chairman of Can Tho City People's Committee Mr. Nguyen Thuc Hien hosted a virtual meeting with representatives of Clear Rivers (the Netherlands) on the pilot project of Litter Trap in Hau River in Can Tho City. There was also the participation of Mr. Christoph Prommersberger, Deputy Head of Mission of the Dutch Embassy in Hanoi.

Clear Rivers is the brand name of the Recycled Island Foundation, a registered non-profit organization established in the Netherlands in 2014. Clear Rivers works focus on the retrieval of debris from rivers and river mouths, sustainable reuse of plastics, organizing clean ups and creating awareness and education. The organization has been working in Can Tho since 2017.

At his presentation in the meeting, Mr. Ramon Knoester, founder and CEO of Clear Rivers said that it was estimated that from 1.15 to 2.41 million tonnes of plastic entering the ocean from rivers annually and that more than two-thirds of the global annual input was caused by Asian rivers. Plastic pollution is an environmental, ecological and economic catastrophe. Therefore, Clear Rivers' goal is to find a durable and effective approach to plastic litter in Vietnam. The pilot project in Can Tho will explore how an effective waste management system can be achieved by retrieving marine litter, exploring its recycling potential, and involving local communities.

With the approval from the City People's Committee, Clear Rivers will deploy a device called Litter Trap in Hau River. Plastic waste collected from Litter Trap will be inputted to a local recycling scheme based on the involvement of the local community to stop the incineration or transportation of plastic to cities other than Can Tho. In addition, floating plastic litter could be recycled and used to produce floating structures for agricultural and water storage purposes in flood-prone and drought-prone areas that suffer from salinity intrusion. This would fit in the floating culture of the Mekong Delta area of Vietnam and the "living with floods" strategy of the Vietnamese government.

Litter Trap device is made from mostly recycled plastic collected from rivers and can capture plastic waste carried by the river current. The device is placed in the opposite direction of the water current making it both cost efficient and energy autonomous. Clear Rivers proposed the position of Litter Trap on the right of Cai Khe canal. This position is considered appropriate because the tide will automatically bring the litter towards the trap and the neighborhood's main source of discharged plastic waste is only a few meters away (ie. Cai Khe market).

Deputy Chairman Nguyen Thuc Hien appreciated the interest of the Dutch government and Clear Rivers in sponsoring the pilot project of Litter Trap in Hau River. The Deputy Chairman reminded the implementing organization to pay attention to traditional/local living custom and habits, tidal and monsoon seasons, as well as waterway transportation regulations so as to choose the best location for installing the device. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment was assigned to be the focal point for working with relevant partners in this pilot project./.