Preliminary study of composition and current status of plastic waste management in Long Tri A commune, Chau Thanh district, Hau Giang province

Abstract

This study is to preliminarily investigate the situation of plastic waste and plastic waste management in Long Tri A commune, Long My town, Hau Giang province to propose more effective management solutions. The study used direct interview method to survey and interview 40 households of the current situation of plastic waste generation. Random samples from 15 households in the study area were also collected to determine the actual amount of plastic waste in a week. The research results identified the situation of plastic waste generation, mainly domestic waste and agricultural waste. Interview results showed that the majority of interviewd people (73%) use plastic bags from sellers while only 12% of themuse their handbags when shopping,10% use their own food containing baskets and 5% use other containers when buying goods.In addition, the results of plastic waste sampling in the households in one week showed that the the highest proportion of plastic waste was plastic bottles, ranging from 87.7-92.0%; plastic bags accounted for 4.7-7.1%; plastic straws accounted for 1.7-4.8%; and foam box accounted for 0.8-1.2%. The average amount of plastic waste discharged by households in a week was 3.12 kg/household; equivalent to 0.11 kg/person/day. Although management of plastic waste in the locality is being improved , it is still on a small scale. People are not really awared of the harmful effects of plastic waste makingplastic waste management quite challenging. The results of this study provide primary results of plastic wastes situation for local environmental managers to conduct more intensive research on plastic waste to improve plastic waste management in the future