News Source: California Waste Solutions
‘THE KING OF TRASH’ WINS BEST DOCUMENTARY AND BEST PEOPLE CHOICE FILM AT 13TH SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL NEW CONCEPT FILM FESTIVAL
David Duong's remarkable journey from Vietnamese boat refugee to American entrepreneur earns two honors in San Francisco, the city where his family began rebuilding their lives nearly five decades ago
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Nov. 4, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Nearly five decades after arriving in San Francisco as a Vietnamese refugee, David Duong returned to the city for an awards ceremony honoring “The King of Trash,” a documentary about his family’s journey from war and displacement to building a successful business in America. The film won Best Documentary and Best People Choice Film at the 13th San Francisco International New Concept Film Festival, with both awards presented November 1 at Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. Duong, the founder of California Waste Solutions, dedicated the film and its two awards to his parents, Jim Thu Tai Duong and Anh Thi Le.
Image caption: Image caption: Victor Duong, and David Duong, founder and CEO of California Waste Solutions at the 13th San Francisco International New Concept Film Festival awards ceremony on November 1, 2026, at Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, where the documentary won Best Documentary and Best People Choice Film.
Before the fall of Saigon in April 1975, his father had built one of South Vietnam’s largest paper recycling businesses and was known as Vua Rác, Vietnamese for “the King of Trash.” The nickname later became the documentary’s title. After the war, the family lost its business and eventually made the decision to leave Vietnam, giving up the life they had spent years building.
David was among 23 relatives who escaped aboard a small boat, making a dangerous journey across the sea. “We almost died out there in the ocean. We had only one choice: survive,” he recalls in the film. The family eventually reached a refugee camp in the Philippines before being admitted to the United States. In 1979, they settled in San Francisco, where they had to find work, learn English and begin supporting themselves in an unfamiliar country.
Their first years were spent in the Tenderloin, where 17 family members shared two small studio apartments. With little money, they relied on the recycling skills their father had brought from Vietnam. David attended school during the day and often worked until midnight collecting cardboard, newspapers, aluminum cans and other discarded materials that the family could sell. The work provided an income while they gradually established themselves in the Bay Area.
In 1983, the family founded CoGiDo Paper Corporation, beginning with approximately $700 and a used truck. They expanded the business over the following years before selling it in 1989. David went on to establish California Waste Solutions in Oakland in 1992, eventually developing municipal recycling operations serving more than 343,000 customers in Oakland and San José. His career later took him back to Vietnam, where he invested in environmental infrastructure through Vietnam Waste Solutions, including the Da Phuoc Integrated Waste Management Facility near Ho Chi Minh City.
Directed by Errol Webber, the 72-minute documentary covers David’s business career alongside his family’s experiences before and after leaving Vietnam. It includes his accounts of discrimination as an immigrant and the difficulties of competing for business in the United States, as well as the memories of relatives who lived through the war and refugee resettlement. Younger family members also appear in the film, recounting how their family’s history has influenced their lives and their involvement in the businesses established by earlier generations.
BUILDING CALIFORNIA WASTE SOLUTIONS: DAVID DUONG’S RISE IN THE RECYCLING INDUSTRY
In 1983, the Duong family established CoGiDo Paper Corporation with approximately $700 and a used truck. After years of collecting and selling recyclable materials to earn a living in San Francisco, they began building a business of their own. Family members worked together, gradually adding trucks, securing commercial customers and expanding their recycling operations throughout the Bay Area.
By 1989, CoGiDo had grown enough for the family to sell the company to a larger corporation. David Duong had spent those years working alongside his father, learning how to manage collection operations, negotiate with buyers and keep the business running. The experience helped prepare him for a different challenge: establishing a company that could compete for municipal recycling contracts.
In 1992, Duong founded California Waste Solutions in Oakland with eight used trucks. He entered an industry where larger, established companies had significant financial resources and longstanding customer relationships. Building his own operation meant finding financing, acquiring equipment, hiring employees and convincing cities and businesses that his company could deliver reliable service. Duong also recalls facing discrimination as a Vietnamese immigrant, which made an already difficult process even more challenging.
California Waste Solutions secured its first municipal franchise contract with the City of Oakland in 1993. The company continued expanding over the following decades, purchasing collection vehicles, developing recycling facilities and eventually establishing operations in both Oakland and San José. What had begun as a small recycling business grew into a company responsible for providing regular collection and processing services to hundreds of thousands of customers.
Today, California Waste Solutions serves more than 343,000 customers in Oakland and San José, providing residential and commercial recycling collection, materials processing and resource recovery services. The company remains family-owned, with David’s sons, Michael, Johnny and Danny Duong, and his siblings, Kristina and Victor Duong, involved in the family’s business activities.
“The King of Trash” also follows the next generation as they take on responsibilities within the family businesses. Their involvement is part of a history that began with Jim Thu Tai Duong’s recycling operations in Vietnam and continued through the businesses established by his children and grandchildren in the United States.
DAVID DUONG’S ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTMENTS IN VIETNAM
More than three decades after leaving Vietnam as a refugee, David Duong returned to the country to develop environmental projects on a scale far greater than the recycling business his family once operated there. Through Vietnam Waste Solutions, he invested in the Da Phuoc Integrated Waste Management Facility near Ho Chi Minh City, which has become one of the city’s major waste treatment operations.
Opened in 2007, the facility covers more than 300 acres and handles thousands of tons of household waste each day. Its operations include engineered landfills, wastewater treatment, landfill gas management and environmental monitoring. Vietnam Waste Solutions is now proposing more than $500 million in additional investment to build a waste-to-energy plant capable of processing 3,000 tons of waste daily and generating 60 megawatts of electricity. The project is still awaiting the necessary regulatory approvals.
Duong is also pursuing the Long An Green Environmental Technology Park, a proposed development in southern Vietnam that would provide additional waste treatment and recycling capacity. The project is part of his broader plans to expand environmental services and introduce new waste processing technologies in the country.
His return to Vietnam is one of the later chapters of “The King of Trash.” Decades earlier, his father had built a paper recycling business in South Vietnam before the family lost its livelihood and eventually fled the country. David later established California Waste Solutions in Oakland, drawing on the knowledge he had learned from his father. His investments in Vietnam have since brought that family business history back to the country where it began.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT AND FAMILY LEADERSHIP
Alongside his work in the recycling and environmental services industry, David Duong has supported schools, charitable organizations and Vietnamese American communities in the United States and Vietnam. Through California Waste Solutions and family contributions, he has helped fund educational programs, scholarships and humanitarian relief efforts, including assistance to families affected by natural disasters.
Duong has also devoted time to supporting Vietnamese American business owners through the Vietnamese American Business Association (VABA). The organization brings entrepreneurs, investors and established business leaders together through networking events, mentorship and business development programs. His involvement has included helping younger entrepreneurs make professional connections, find guidance and explore opportunities to grow their businesses.
Family members have continued that work while taking on responsibilities within the companies established by earlier generations. David’s sons, Michael, Johnny and Danny Duong, along with his siblings, Kristina and Victor Duong, have been involved in the family’s business activities and community efforts. Their experiences differ from those of the relatives who arrived in San Francisco as refugees, but the family’s businesses remain closely connected to the work begun by their parents and grandparents.
Those generational differences are also part of “The King of Trash.” The documentary includes accounts from relatives who remember leaving Vietnam and starting over in America, alongside younger family members who grew up as California Waste Solutions expanded. Their recollections offer different perspectives on the family’s history and the responsibilities that came with building and maintaining the business.
The film also gives David an opportunity to remember his parents, Jim Thu Tai Duong and Anh Thi Le, and the years they spent helping their family establish a home in the United States. By dedicating the documentary and its two festival awards to them, he acknowledged their place in a family history that began long before his own business career.
NATIONWIDE SCREENINGS, FILM FESTIVAL RECOGNITION AND FUTURE DISTRIBUTION
“The King of Trash” has reached audiences across the United States through a series of public screenings, bringing David Duong’s family history to communities in California, Texas, Florida and Washington, D.C. According to organizers, 12 screening events have drawn more than 5,000 attendees, with presentations in San José, Oakland, Sacramento, Orange County, Dallas, Houston, Orlando, Washington, D.C., and several additional Bay Area cities, including Hayward, Dublin and Emeryville.
The documentary was also selected for the 2026 Red Rock Film Festival in Utah, appearing in its September program. It subsequently received Best Documentary and Best People Choice Film at the 13th San Francisco International New Concept Film Festival, with the awards presented November 1 at Herbst Theatre in San Francisco.
The 72-minute film was directed by Errol Webber, who previously served as a cinematographer on “Music by Prudence,” winner of the 2010 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject. Through historical footage, scenes filmed in Vietnam and personal accounts from David Duong and his family, the documentary recounts more than five decades of their history. Family members, including Victor and Kristina Duong, share their perspectives on the experiences of earlier generations and the businesses that developed after the family settled in America.
The San Francisco International New Concept Film Festival was established in 2010 and held its first edition in 2014. Its 13th annual event took place October 25 through November 1, 2026, bringing together independent filmmakers from different countries and backgrounds. According to the festival’s official program, the 2026 edition received 110 film entries.
With its nationwide screenings and recent festival awards, the production team is working to bring “The King of Trash” to audiences beyond its theatrical and special-event screenings. Discussions with streaming platforms are underway, with distribution partners and release dates to be announced once agreements are finalized.
The official trailer, media materials and future screening announcements are available at https://www.thekingoftrash.us/.
ABOUT “THE KING OF TRASH”
“The King of Trash” is a 72-minute documentary directed by Errol Webber that chronicles the life of Vietnamese American entrepreneur David Duong and his family’s pursuit of the American dream. The film follows their escape from Vietnam after the war, their years as refugees and their efforts to rebuild their lives in San Francisco, where they began collecting recyclables to support themselves. It also recounts the founding of California Waste Solutions, David’s later environmental investments in Vietnam and the experiences of three generations of a family whose history spans two countries.
Official website: https://www.thekingoftrash.us/
Trailer and media information: https://www.thekingoftrash.us/media
ABOUT CALIFORNIA WASTE SOLUTIONS
Founded in Oakland in 1992 by David Duong, California Waste Solutions is a family-owned recycling and environmental services company serving Oakland and San José. The company provides residential and commercial recycling collection, materials processing and resource recovery services. According to company figures, its operations serve more than 343,000 customers in Northern California.
Official website: https://www.calwaste.com/
ABOUT THE SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL NEW CONCEPT FILM FESTIVAL
The San Francisco International New Concept Film Festival is an independent international film festival established in 2010, with its first edition held in 2014. The festival showcases films across multiple genres, recognizes independent filmmakers and encourages cultural exchange through cinema. Its 13th annual edition took place October 25 through November 1, 2026, concluding with an awards ceremony at Herbst Theatre in San Francisco.
Official website: https://www.sfnewfilms.com/
MUILTIMEDIA
Image link for media: https://www.Send2Press.com/300dpi/26-1104-s2p-vicanddave-300dpi.webp
Image caption: Victor Duong, and David Duong, founder and CEO of California Waste Solutions at the 13th San Francisco International New Concept Film Festival awards ceremony on November 1, 2026, at Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, where the documentary won Best Documentary and Best People Choice Film.
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