From Refugee Roots to Environmental Leadership: David Duong’s American Journey

For more than four decades, David Duong has helped keep major American cities cleaner while building one of California’s largest family-owned recycling enterprises. As the Vietnamese American Founder and CEO of California Waste Solutions (CWS) and Vietnam Waste Solutions (VWS), Duong has become a recognized leader in modern waste management and environmental technology. His journey, soon to be highlighted in the documentary The King of Trash, shows how one family transformed difficult beginnings into a long-standing commitment to sustainability and community impact.

The Family Business of Survival

The Duong family’s connection to recycling began long ago. After the fall of Saigon in 1975, David’s father, Jim Thu Tai Duong, had to leave behind one of South Vietnam’s largest paper recycling companies. Arriving in San Francisco as refugees, the 17 family members shared a small apartment and earned a living by collecting recyclables at night. Their challenging work generated their core family belief: “There is honor in every kind of honest work.”

Inspired by their father’s principle of wasting nothing, neither materials nor opportunities, the family saved up and started a new paper corporation in 1983, which became the foundation for the launch of California Waste Solutions (CWS). Starting with just eight used trucks, David Duong grew CWS into a leading, family-owned recycling business in the US that now serves hundreds of thousands of homes in Oakland and San Jose. Today, CWS processes around 1,000 tons of material per week in Oakland and 1,300 tons per week in San Jose, a growth that was achieved one route at a time.

Bridging Worlds with Green Technology

Driven by a desire to help his homeland, David Duong eventually became one of the first overseas Vietnamese entrepreneurs to reinvest in Vietnam. Through Vietnam Waste Solutions (VWS), Duong brought modern environmental technology to Ho Chi Minh City and developed the Da Phuoc Integrated Waste Management Facility, a state-of-the-art sanitary landfill considered among the most advanced in Southeast Asia. It’s covered operations and engineered treatment systems improve local environmental conditions and overall quality of life. The facility manages up to 7,500 tons of waste daily, an important solution to waste handling and disposal, and a key contributor to sustainability for millions of people.

Duong’s work now includes the Long An Green Environmental Technology Park, a new-generation integrated waste management facility designed to use the newest technologies and provide an expanding range of services to customers and the surrounding community.

The Story Behind The King of Trash

David Duong’s work is marked by persistence, family unity, and his belief that “Success is not based on how much money you make, but how much benefit you bring to the community.” Both CWS Oakland and CWS San Jose have created thousands of jobs, supported underserved communities, and expanded environmental education efforts. The King of Trash documents these decades of leadership with transparency, offering a clear view into how one family transformed their experience into long-term public service and environmental responsibility.

The Duong family’s journey from collecting recyclables by hand to running sophisticated waste management systems across two countries shows that survival under harsh conditions is possible, and that change starts when you see the potential in what others have thrown away. David Duong continues his father’s legacy as “Vua Rác” (King of Trash) through The King of Trash documentary. He is focused on making cities cleaner and finding greener solutions one route at a time.