These solutions are included in an app called Grac developed by a group of young people in HCM City who want to protect the environment.

The app has had more than 1,000 downloads on Google Play. The group's ambition is to create an ecosystem of services that helps people heighten their awareness of environmental protection.

Nguyen Trong Minh, the founder of Grac project, said about 9,500 tons of waste is produced every day in HCM City, which is equal to a 18-story building.

More and more waste is discharged, while the land area for waste burial is on the decrease. The team has raised awareness among the public about the importance of sorting waste at source.

However, the team understands that it is difficult to persuade people to change their behavior, when people cannot see any benefit. This prompted the team to build an app which can have a big impact on people’s awareness and behavior. 

More and more waste is discharged, while the land area for waste burial is on the decrease. The team has raised awareness among the public about the importance of sorting waste at source.

And Grac has been brought to life. This is a platform with many utilities that helps people handle waste in different ways.

The app allows scrap dealers and owners of waste to connect. Sellers of waste take pictures of products they want to sell, such as paper, plastics and old papers, and post the images on the app.

Scrap dealers receive information from sellers and then move to the areas where sellers are. The two sides negotiate the prices and make transactions.

Owners can post information about the old things they have and want to donate.

With the app, the team of developers hopes that waste discharged to the environment will reduce.

The online garbage payment service allows users to make payments via the app.

According to Nguyen Hoang Kim Phung, with this feature, the team is proud to be the pioneer in Vietnam to apply an electronic payment portal with convenient operations for such services.

The team is also developing a model of collecting waste based on the schedule of waste carrying trucks. The trucks’ schedules will appear on the app in real time, allowing people to know exactly when the waste collectors will arrive and what kind of waste they collect. This will help raise awareness about the need for waste classification. 

Mai Lan

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