Vietnam has a tough time facing reality. They are well-known throughout the world for being one of the largest per-capita polluters of any country in the world. If you live here you can see this in action because it doesn't really matter where you go, there is trash everywhere. While I cannot confirm this is true or not, the rumor has it that the sewers pump in giant pipes several miles off the coast and that is their septic treatment program. Fish are pretty good at taking care of human waste but since the areas are fished by commercial vessels to the point of near eradication of all ocean species, there is not much out there to eat the waste. And to think.... some people consider seafood a "cleaner" type of food.
About 5 years ago the city and more specifically the area that I live in put up a bunch of signs about "going green" and then had recycling bins put all over the place. Since I often travel on a scooter to the other part of town that is in no way affiliated with tourism, I saw first hand that these green initiatives applied ONLY in the tourist areas. I had my suspicions that this would be the case anyway but when I saw that the whole "going green" thing was all just a lie to trick tourists, it was still kind of depressing.
Well, these days the recyling centers that they set up in the areas that tourists would frequently walk have almost completely become unattended, unmaintained, and even though there isn't much in the way of nature around, the jungle has taken them over.
Now if you were a sensible government official - if there is such a thing - wouldn't it be more prudent to simply take these things away? It doesn't add much to the ambiance and it has the opposite effect that was originally intended of duping the visitors into believing that the government actually cares about the environment.
This one isn't as terrible, but it is still pretty bad. One thing that always kind of irritated me about these was that the entrance where you drop off the bottles or whatever had these sort of security methods built in to make it impossible or at the minimum, painful for any waste collector that is trying to make a few bucks for to exchange for food. Just why?
It also made me upset that they had a few sections for things I know damn well that this city doesn't have the capacity to recycle anyway. Batteries and glass are not recycled in Da Nang, or perhaps anywhere in Vietnam. So if you were a conscientious traveler who separated these things they simply ended up getting thrown in the regular trash anyway.
The money that was spent on this ruse could have been used for anything else and it would have been better spent. If this country truly wants to clean up their image they could do so. I would start by punishing people for littering, which I've seen it with my own eyes man, people just throw things on the ground when they are done with it and they have no remorse or fear of consequences when doing so. Cabbies throwing cigarettes buts on the the ground is extremely common.