Short report on International Workshop

Hue, April 25, 2024

1. Project: Green City: Applying Smart Technology for Waste Classification and Treatment
2. Name of project partner:

● International School, Hue University

● Friedrich Naumann Foundation

● Hue Development Research Institute

3. Activity theme: Promoting the application of advanced technologies for waste management in
traditional markets, contributing to the construction of greener, smarter, and more sustainable
cities.
4. Venue: Mondial Hotel, 17 Nguyen Hue, Hue
5. Time: 25/04/2024

6. Objectives of the Program:

This conference aims to achieve four key objectives: (1) Understanding the role of source-waste
classification in smart city models; (2)Grasping modern applied technologies; (3) Receiving
practical lessons and sharing solutions;(4) Proposing necessary policies and frameworks for
replication.From there, promoting the waste classification movement in traditional markets,
contributing to effective waste management and sustainable environmental protection in the
Central region.
7. Brief Description of the Program:
The program comprised two main sessions. In the morning session (7:45-11:30am), a total
of 90 participants including leaders from Hue University, representatives from the FNF
institution, various departments and branches of Thua Thien Hue province, distinguished guests,
and keynote speakers were present.
In the afternoon session (1:30-5:30pm), participants attended two training courses led by
experts. One course focused on organic waste treatment in markets for the production of
Biological Dish-washing Liquid, while the other concentrated on application of technology in
Source-Waste Classification (SWC) and Recyclable Waste Collection through the Mgreen
mobile app.
In the opening session of the conference, MS. Tran Cong Anh, the conference moderator,
welcomed delegates to the Conference on “Green City: Applying Smart Technology for Waste
Classification and Treatment”. He delivered a formal opening address and introduced the
distinguished guests and speakers present.

Following the conference agenda, Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Hoang Khanh Linh, from the Dean’s
office at HUIS, delivered a welcoming and opening speech. She presented that Vietnam is
currently facing serious environmental challenges, particularly in urban areas and the Central
region, where the amount of waste is increasing while waste sorting and recycling is still limited,
causing environmental pollution and wasting valuable resources. However, she emphasized that
the trend of applying smart technology to urban management is becoming increasingly popular,
opening up many effective solutions to the waste problem. She believed by utilizing Source
waste classification using advanced technology and smart sensors that will enhance efficiency,
reduce waste management costs, promote the application of advanced technologies in waste
management at traditional markets to contribute to a greener, smarter, and more sustainable
urban environment. She concluded her speech with heartfelt gratitude to FNF Vietnam and all
participants for their presence and engagement in the conference.

Continuing with the program, Dr. Kieu Thi Thu Huong , the representative of Friedrich
Naumann Foundation, delivered a brief speech highlighting the pressing need for sustainable
development amidst the environmental challenges of waste problem in today's global context.
She emphasized that ensuring and building a greener, smarter and sustainable urban environment
that does not let waste issue cause environmental pollution is both a responsibility and an urgent
task. Thus, equipping participants with necessary knowledge on applying Smart Technology for
Waste Classification and Treatment will promote greener city are the key objectives of this
conference.

Following the opening speeches, the morning session featured two presentations as well as
training course by two speakers, offering insights, knowledge and experiences on categorizing
source waste using smart technology solutions in central urban markets, analyzing advantages
and challenges, contributions to environmental protection, livelihood enhancement,
entrepreneurship, and introducing the utilization of grac Solid Waste Management Software
The first presentation was by Mr. Hoang Cong Son, Director of the Center for Startup Support
and Technology Transfer in the Vietnamese Retail Industry,presented a presentation on the topic
“Training on Organic Waste and Agricultural Byproduct Recycling at Market”. At the initial
segment of his presentation, he introduced one of the most successful campaign which he had
implemented is “IMO solution” and this campaign raised a significant phenomenon of protecting
environment as well as social impact result from 2018 - 2023. As many commercial products
made from Organic Waste had deal with a number of living problems for citizens, reduced
production costs and generated livelihood and income.
Then, Mr. Son presented some popular commercial products made from Organic Waste that
people often use in a daily life such as plant rooting hormone, plant growth regulator (PGR),
Calcium chloride, Tama organic soil, household organic waste composting starter, etc,…
Moreover, he emphasized the vital role of utilizing “IMO solution” in our daily life in order to
recycle more organic waste and protect the environment. Coming to the second segment, Mr.
Son underscored the pivotal role of “ Economic models based on Organic Waste” play in
protecting community health and medicinal herbs. He highlighted several significant
achievements initiated by his department to encourage participants to consume more products
which made from Organic Waste . These campaign aim to equip participants with the necessary
knowledge about using natural as well as organic products, raising pubic awareness of
conserving environment and knowing how to keeping individual’s health better. Afterward, Mr.
Son had gave information of the definition of “IMO solution” to participants that they can grasp
the definition clearly, he also illustrated the enormous difference between IMO solution and
others ordinary solutions. Finally, Mr. Son seek to directly engage participants in contributing to
environmental protection while enhancing livelihoods and entrepreneurship.

Moving to the next speaker, Mr. Nguyen Trong Minh, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Grac
technology joint stock Company, delivered a comprehensive discourse centered on the theme
“Utilizing Grac solid waste management software". In the initial segment of his presentation, he
described the model for solid waste management and segregation to participants and introduced
them to some ubiquitous products of GRAC such as SaaS ERP - an app for waste generators to
schedule waste collection or pay waste fees online. In addition, this is an app for different users,
including citizens, waste collectors, and government agencies. Mr. Minh elucidated on the
convenience of this incredible app that it only requires 1-3 seconds to let government agencies
grasp the data of waste management statistics in the area and increase the proportion of 80% of
waste classification activities in local areas.
Continuing the second segment of the presentation is the introduction of 5 ways to carry our
digitalization of source-separated municipal solid waste management in Thua Thien Hue
Province: (I) Schedule an appointment for collection, (II) Address management, (III) Using
packaging with QR codes, (IV) Earn points and redeem rewards, (V) exchanging with a plastic
bottle buyer. As the environment is getting more polluted in the modern era, Mr Son promoted
participants to start to use social media as well as environmental protection app which lead to
positive effects on environment and community. Moreover, he highlights 3 main targets to
achieve succeed in classifying waste and conserving environment are GREEN - CLEAN -
BEAUTIFUL. Next, he underscored the differing collection model of tradition and modernity
and he delineated a perfect waste categorize model that always including government, scientist ,
school, entrepreneur and citizens.
In the end of the presentation, he introduced to participants about a number of benefits in
economy, environment as well as for classified company and individuals which they can receive
after using Grac.
In the end of the presentation, he reaffirmed the crucial role of using the Grac solid waste
management software into our daily life and he motivated everyone in all aged, especially young
generation should take the lead and go green by categorizing waste and environmentally-friendly
products in order to build a sustainable environment in the future.

In the afternoon session, from 13:30 to 17:30, the conference featured two training courses for
90 participants. The first was led by Ms. Trinh Thi Hong, Director of Minh Hong
Biotechnology Company, Ltd, who conducted a training session titled “Processing Organic
Waste from Markets to Produce Biological Dish-washing Liquid”. In her opening remarks, she
provided an overview of the current situation of organic waste in some provinces which
aggravated the pollution of groundwater and led to the increase of air pollution.
During this course, Ms. Hong provided detailed information of some popular products that
having 80% of synthetic chemicals contain Sodium Laureth Sulfate, which can cause skin
irritation and hair loss. It can also have negative health effects, for example, it can be detrimental
the human digestive system, respiratory system, and skin.
As consumer health concerns are becoming increasingly important, Ms. Hong’s company had
make an action plan and recycled all organic waste then produced a line of products for human
consumption without using harmful chemicals such as dish-washing liquid, floor cleaner and
fabric conditioner. In addition, she gave a detailed process of the manufacturing of products
which made from fruit peel and clean vegetable in her company. Then, Ms. Hong guided
participants in understanding how to effectively create a biological dish-washing liquid by
themselves at home with a short formula with 3 steps :
Step 1 : Preparing some necessary materials
● 300 gram sugar
● 3 kg vegetal organic waste
● 10 liters of water
Step 2: Cut the vegetal organic waste into 3-5cm pieces and wash them thoroughly,dissolve the
sugar in 10 liters of water, place the cut vegetal organic waste and the sugar solution into a clean
plastic bucket with a lid, seal the lid tightly and store the bucket in a dry, cool place away from
direct sunlight, open the lid every 3-5 days and stir the mixture thoroughly
Step 3: After 20 days or more, the mixture will develop a sweet, fruity aroma similar to wine.
In conclusion, Ms. Hong promote participants to start using clean, healthy and eco-friendly
products instead of single-use products owing to its wonderful benefits and function. And, from
her point of view, utilizing organic waste processing at markets to produce biological dish-
washing enzyme is a great action that participants should give a try to keep the environment
clean as well as protect human health.

Following, Ms. Tran Thi Thoa, CEO of MGREEN Social Enterprise, delivered a presentation
on the topic: “Leveraging technology for source-separation waste classification (PLR) and
recycling collection via the Mgreen mobile app”. In her opening remark, she gave an overview
of the training program which included three parts:
Part 1 : the introduction of Mgreen
Part 2 : Mgreen project in Hue
Part 3 : Instructions and user experience
In the first part, she introduced Mgreen as a technological solution for implementing the sharing
economy model in the environmental field and she presented that Mgreen is a smart urban
solution for waste sorting and recycling collection connecting the needs of waste sorters,
recyclers, buyers, and sellers through the coalition loyalty program platform. Afterward, she
directed participants' attention to the overall project model of Mgreen for source-separation
waste classification in the circular economy and she even guided participants how to categorize
three kinds of ordinary waste are recycle waste, organic waste and other waste. Next, Ms. Thoa
described 3 primary activities that Mgreen usually involve : (I) Recycle Waste at Collection
Points (Mgreen day), (II) Schedule Waste Recycling Collection at Home through the MGREEN
App, (III) Earn Points for Waste Sorting at Smart Bins. With a great number of projects had been
achieved and efforts, she and her department had result in lots of significant achievement such
as 100.000 person join in classifying waste, more than 500 tone of recyclable waste (paper,
plastic, and metal) are collected, 20.000 user in Mgreen mobile app, etc,..In addition, Ms. Thoa
elucidated on the impediments and challenges hindering user’s engagement and public
awareness and introduced some solutions to deal with problems so that participants can grasp the
information more clearly.
In the next part of the presentation, she supplied detailed data and photo with participants about
Mgreen project in Hue city. This projects has successfully met its goals with 35 Mgreen waste
collectors, 8.000 kg recycle waste, 300 home collection schedule requests, 200.000 instances of
waste sorting and QR code scanning at Smart Bins, 1.500 households using the Mgreen app with
18,000 transactions and 9.000 online and offline gift redemption transactions - 150 million VND.

Finally, Ms. Thoa encouraged every participants and students who studied in Hue scan QR code
and download Mgreen app in order to build a healthy habit in recycling and collecting waste as it
is very urgent and important to the environment we live in.
8. Organizers & Resource Staff:

Name Organization Function Presentation topics/ Honorarium

Report topics
9. Summarise statement of the Program Evaluation by participants :
The conference aimed to enhance participants' awareness of using source waste classification by
smart technology solutions in central Vietnam urban markets, In addition, it can also analyzes
advantage as well as challenges that individuals have to face up with during the process of
categorizing waste in urban markets, local areas and cities. The conference had provided many
recommendations and suitable specific policies. Beyond providing platform for idea, exchange,
discussion and networking, the conference equipped attendees with knowledge and tools to start
utilizing modern technology into classifying waste and protecting environment effectively.
10. Did the Program meet its objectives? Why?
Yes, the program has successfully met its targets. The conference provided a platform for
participants to have access to learning and training opportunities to enhance awareness of
protecting environment by promoting the application of advanced technologies for waste
management in traditional markets, contributing to the construction of greener, smarter, and
more sustainable cities. In addition, the program creates conditions for participants to implement
and practice how to create biological dish-washing liquid made from organic waste as well as
understand the importance of recycling organic waste in a daily life. Overall, the program has
successfully achieved its objectives and made a positive impact in the field of shaping greener
and cleaner environment for living in the future
11. What is trackability?

After the event, the workshop content was shared on Hue University's social media platforms, as
well as the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and the Hue Institute of Development Studies
website. Articles about the event appeared in many newspapers and magazines in Vietnam. FNF,
as the sponsor, has their logo and acknowledgement on all official communication channels of
the event.
Link:

Not. Organization Link

1
 2

3 HUIS -
International
Faculty - Hue
University

12. Please state the total amount &; type of expenses that the Partner (your organization)
has met in Cash/in-kind: Total amount

Not Description Donate (VND)

13. Please state the total amount & type of expenses met by other donors in Cash/kind:
Not applicable

Day: Signature: