On September 13, information from the People's Committee of Co To District (Quang Ninh) said that starting from September 15, this locality will not allow residents and tourists to bring disposable plastic items to the island district.

In addition, the People's Committee of Co To District also requires 100% of agencies, units, schools, markets, service businesses, passenger and cargo transport vessels, fishing vessels... in Co To District not to use plastic bags, disposable plastic items (plastic boxes, plastic cups, disposable plastic straws...) and materials that are at risk of polluting the marine environment from the above time.

According to the People's Committee of Co To District, the above regulation is part of phase 2 of project No. 175-QD/HU, dated June 4, 2021 on Co To island district without plastic waste.

Previously, from September 1, 2022 to present, Co To district has implemented phase 1 of project 175 by propagating and restricting people and tourists from bringing plastic bags and disposable plastic items to Co To.

After a year of pilot implementation, the awareness, habits and behaviors of the people and tourists in protecting the marine environment have changed and transformed positively; awareness has been significantly raised. In particular, the marine environment has been initially protected, some species such as turtles, green sea turtles, dolphins... have returned to the island to live.

To effectively implement phase 2, Co To district requires passenger ship owners to sign a commitment not to let tourists bring single-use plastic items to the island; requires boats anchored at Co To port to also not use nylon bags or single-use plastic items; and not to dump waste into the sea.