Elsevier

Marine Policy

Volume 137, March 2022, 104924
Marine Policy

From laissez-faire to action? Exploring perceptions of plastic pollution and impetus for action. Insights from Phu Quoc Island

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104924Get rights and content

Abstract

Vietnam is at the heart of the marine plastic pollution challenge, as a worldwide hotspot for post-consumption plastics leaking into the oceans. Plenty of global recommendations on how to combat land-based sources of plastic pollution exist, but how local actors experience, understand and respond to local actors has been studied surprisingly little.

Taking Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam’s tourism magnet, as a vivid case in point, this paper explores ‘whose problem is plastic pollution and why’ by grounding it on qualitative data, using a risk perception approach and research into waste governance as an analytical frame.

The paper shows how high visibility, haptic experiences and greater knowledge of plastic impacts make plastic waste-associated risks increasingly tangible. By this, the overall increasing visible everyday waste pollution and the ill-equipped waste governance come into focus. Interviews reveal a linkage between the observation of ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ disposal practices with distinct perceptions of island places and waste pollution responsibilities. That, in turn, shapes both response strategies to combat plastic pollution and to improve the island’s overall waste governance. This research points to the complexity of waste governance, especially when convenience and ignorance clash with attempts to protect the environment. Action repertoires range from beach clean-ups, awareness-raising, and usage of eco-friendly reusable materials to managerial waste infrastructure improvements. Yet, hierarchies, budget constraints, the absence of an environmentally sound waste collection and treatment system and inadequate environmental knowledge limit perceived agency, genuine commitment and ultimately an effective waste governance.

Introduction

Vietnam is ranked among the top-five countries of post-consumption plastics leaking into the oceans in the world, when calculating likely inputs of mismanaged plastic waste within 50 km of coastlines [1], [2], [3]. This high level is largely the result of the rapidly growing single-use plastic packaging economy, a growing consumer population, prevailing littering practices, and the import of low-quality plastics. Together these factors overexert existing rudimentary municipal waste management systems. In addition, Vietnam has a long coastline and huge river systems via much of the mismanaged waste eventually enters the ocean [2], [4], [5]. Consequences for marine ecosystems have been intensively studied, pointing to a similar conclusion: ocean plastic pollution threatens flora and fauna. The most recognized risks for marine species are entanglement in floating plastic debris, the ingestion of small plastic particles and ecotoxicological effects due to chemical contamination [6], [7]. Until recently, Vietnam’s politics have widely ignored the rising tides of plastic pollution, or, more precisely, shortsighted economic interests were prioritized over environmental protection (Expert1,Expert2). This is also true for Phu Quoc, Vietnam’s most famous tourist island. For a long time, provincial and local authorities considered plastic pollution secondary to prioritizing fast mass tourism [8,9,LA5]. However, intense plastic consumption and an ill-equipped waste infrastructure make pollution increasingly evident. Vivid images in media and travel blogs depict plastic waste, such as wrapping materials and shopping bags, overflowing from landfills, lying on streets and beaches, floating visibly in the shallow waters and illustrate severe governance failures by local and provincial authorities [10], [11]. Most notably, Phu Quoc’s reputation as a destination of unique, pristine landscape is at stake. As Phu Quoc’s actors – particularly local authorities and the international tourism sector – are beginning to recognize the problem, activism to combat the plastic pollution is growing [12]. Yet, jointly recognizing a problem does not automatically lead to the same assessment of what is at stake as this is shaped inter alia by individual affectedness, experiences and knowledge [13], [14], [15], [16]. Along these lines, as for instance environmental psychologists and antroplogists argue, response strategies are doomed to fail without paying attention to how individuals and groups engage with and understand plastic pollution [14], [16], [17]. The way a problem is framed strongly influences how approaches to address it are developed. Yet, little research has examined how the global phenomenon is experienced, comprehended and responded to by different actors within local contexts, especially in places that have been globally highlighted as a hotspot, e.g. Southeast Asia [1], [3], [14], [17].

Accordingly, this study scrutinizes how and why Phu Quoc’s actors adopt certain perceptions, waste-related practices and response strategies by taking a comparative actor-oriented focus. Concepts of risk perception and waste governance underpin the analytical perspective. In particular, the study addresses the following questions: First, who assesses plastic and more broadly waste pollution as a matter of concern? Second, what are the rationality and the scope for individual or collective action for addressing plastic pollution? Thus, the paper provides valuable insights into what plastic pollution means in a local context – most notably usable for Vietnamese officials and organizations involved in developing and implementing local measures to minimize land-based sources within the Phu Quoc Marine Debris Action Plan, the National Action Plan and the ASEAN Framework to combat marine litter [18], [19]. In essence, this paper aims to help close the research gap in a fast-moving field by analyzing local perceptions of and response strategies to plastic pollution in a globally recognized hotspot.

Section snippets

Conceptual framing: approaching waste governance and risk perception research

This study is framed by two conceptual lines: (1) waste governance and (2) risk perception approaches that embrace subjective interpretations of risk.

This article frames waste as a geographical phenomenon as materials relocate and rematerialize in space [20], [21], [22]. Geographic studies of waste [20], [21], [23], [24], [25] point out that waste allows both ‘negative’, e.g. as a nuisance, and ‘positive’, e.g. as a source of income, framings, depending on what is perceived as waste. Thus,

Methods

The case study’s methodical repertoire includes semi-structured and open interviews, participatory observation, off-the-record conversations and visual documentation. To get a broader picture of waste governance and plastic pollution issues in Vietnam, expert interviews, attendance at conferences and workshops, and media analysis complement these methods. The results presented and discussed are based primarily on the qualitative interviews and participatory observation conducted on Phu Quoc in

Assessing the problem

Understanding perceptions of plastic pollution means engaging in subjective interpretative frameworks. The international tourism sector, local authorities and parts of the local tourism sector perceive the problem widely. That is, “if we don’t care about garbage, plastic packaging and plastic bottles pollution, our image is not good in tourist's eyes […] we will lose our reputation” [LA1]; and, so their fear, revenues from the tourism sector as well. In all groups, visibility is a crucial risk

Conclusion

This paper provides arguments for the relevance of analyzing local perceptions and experiences of waste pollution and specifically plastic pollution to refine the understanding of response strategies that aim to stop waste, above all plastics, before it enters the ocean in the first place. The case study shows how diverse perceptions of waste and pollution by plastic can be. The risks of plastic waste for marine environments and marine and coastal-dependent economies, most notably tourism,

Funding

This work was supported by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) [grant number: 01UU1603A].

Declarations of interest

None.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to the WWF-Germany and WWF-Vietnam team for their great support of the field trips to Vietnam, their invaluable input and the inspiring discussions that made the results more robust. A big thank you also to the translators and field assistants. Many thanks to the anonymous reviewers for their critical reading of the manuscript and their many insightful comments and suggestions.

Glossary

Actor
An actor is a person, collective group or corporative entity that has a legitimate interest in the course or outcome of a proceeding. They cause a specific problem (in the field of interest, e.g., environmental problems), are affected by them, have the political power, or have the means to solve them. Often used synonymously with ‘stakeholder.’ Njeru, J. (2006) Political ecology of plastic bag waste problem. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2006.03.003
Actor-analysis (or

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