Vietnamese authorities have started many plans and programmes in order to reduce ocean plastic waste.

People are turning against plastic straws, and a 32-year-old man has come up with a reusable bamboo alternative for the once ubiquitous and popular item that has become a symbol of throw-away culture.

Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has issued a national action plan on ocean plastic waste management by 2030.

The 9th ASEAN Maritime Forum (AMF-9) opened in the central city of Da Nang on December 5, seeing the participation of more than 50 delegates from the 10 ASEAN countries and the ASEAN Secretariat.

Saigon River in HCM City is facing serious pollution from plastic waste which has been swept into the river.

Hanoi has set the target of reducing hard-decomposed plastic bags by 50% at all local traditional markets by the end of 2020, but little has been done to make this a reality.

Tonnes of plastic waste, particularly discarded plastic bags threaten our planet with environmental pollution, and by now almost everybody knows it.

The current tax rate on plastic bags is VND50,000 per kilogram, which, according to Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Vo Tuan Nhan, is "not high enough".

Up to 9.1 tonnes of potential plastic waste was being dumped into the Vu Gia-Thu Bon River basin, one of nine largest river systems in Vietnam, each day, equating to 2,600 tonnes each year.

Quang Ninh welcomes more than 10 million tourists each year. An increase in tourists has led an increase in waste, especially plastic waste.

Five students from the Hanoi-based Transport University have successfully produced a street paving material from plastic bags.

The principle that waste is a kind of resource that can be used should be included in an amendment in the Law on Environmental Protection if Vietnam wants to minimize plastic waste.

Hanoi authorities have issued a plan to prevent and limit the use of plastic bags to 2020, with a view to 2025.

Making straws from coconut milk can help to reduce plastic waste and boost exports of coconut products.

Large retailers and convenience stores in Thailand have pledged to stop giving plastic bags to customers from next year to reduce plastic waste, the country’s environment minister announced.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MONRE) has decided that Vietnam has to control ocean plastic waste at source, on the mainland and on the sea.

The Cambodian General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE) on September 17 announced that all the 83 containers of plastic waste illegally imported into the country have been returned to their originating countries – the US and Canada.

People throughout the country will join forces to eliminate landfills and build a waste treatment industry, contributing a new achievement to the urbanization process.

The domestic waste treatment market, worth VND7.3-9.8 trillion, continues to attract new investments and technologies.

To help deal with plastic waste, the Philippines plans to soon put into use a new 25 million peso (481,877 USD) garbage-disposal plant in Metro Manila, the Nikkei Asia Review reported on September 14.