A campaign aimed at increasing awareness of environmental protection issues, has been officially launched in Hanoi.

The scheme sees local people receive a small gift when taking their garbage to various collecting points located throughout the capital.

According to Nguyen Van Toan, director of Hanoi Urban Environment Company (Urenco), trials for the campaign have been underway since August in four wards of Hoan Kiem district. During this initial phase, the scheme received plenty of positive feedback from local people.

Urenco implemented the campaign in other districts on September 5, including in Ba Dinh, Dong Da, and Hai Ba Trung.

At present, the company has successfully collected 5.8 tonnes of trash.

The campaign aims to urge local people to classify their waste before sending it for recycling or disposal.

It is scheduled to be rolled out across other districts in the capital in October, therefore contributing to improving environment protection locally.

Dinh Thi Phuong Lien, president of the Ba Dinh district’s Women's Union, said an “anti-plastic waste” campaign will be launched across 14 wards in Hanoi in the near future.