A research exhibition titled “Plastic Matters: Wild Lives" is on display at the International Centre of Interdisciplinary Science and Education (ICISE) in the central city of Quy Nhon, Binh Dinh Province. 

Where do marine plastic debris come from? A poster as seen at the research exhibition. 

The exhibition showcases the connection between plastic and human, especially in the context of everyday life in Vietnam. It explores how plastic, since the beginning of the Doi Moi Era, has found its way to every conner of Vietnamese society and how the rampant use of plastic has become an environmental issue, especially to the country’s marine environment.  

It bore the fruit of some multi-disciplinary research done by Belgium PhD student Mikaela Le Meur, Emilie Strady and Kieu Le Thuy Chung, researchers from the Centre Asiaqiue de Recherche sur IEau hosted by the department of Sociology under the Vietnam National University of Agriculture and Quy Nhon University. 

The research team also look at the country’s waste recycling industry, especially in relation to treatment of plastic waste and make recommendations to improve its efficiency and development.  

Elisabeth Barbier, deputy director general of the French National Research Institution for Development (IRD), which help promote the research, said the IRD is committed to provide support to further research in the field of environmental protection and rising public knowledge on the negative effect of the use of plastic on the environment. — VNS