Why David Duong’s Story Matters: The Refugee Journey Behind The King of Trash

The life of David Duong, founder of California Waste Solutions, is the kind of real narrative that reshapes how we understand resilience. It is emotional, multi-generational, deeply human. Rooted in the Duong family, who lost everything in 1975 before rebuilding an environmental enterprise across two nations. Today, through The King of Trash documentary, that history is being preserved for younger generations and for anyone searching for proof that conviction and courage still matter.

“Our story started when we lost everything in 1975,” Duong recalls. “My father’s recycling collection and paper mill company in South Vietnam disappeared overnight, and we had to leave our country with nothing.” That collapse later became the foundation for the environmental work embodied in the Da Phuoc Integrated Waste Management Facility and Sanitary Landfill, one of the largest solid waste projects developed by Vietnam Waste Solutions.

That moment, painful, disorienting, and life-altering, became the beginning of a long arc toward renewal.

When the Duong family arrived in San Francisco, they carried no wealth, no English, and no roadmap. “Seventeen of us shared a tiny apartment in the Tenderloin,” Duong says. “We collected bottles and cardboard at night because that was the only work we could find.”

Those nights gathering recyclables laid the foundation for a future none of them could have predicted. Duong still carries his father’s message: there is honor in every kind of honest work. That belief kept the family together and later guided the environmental businesses led by the next generation, including Kristina Duong and Victor Duong, who continue to play essential roles within the company.

It became not just a lesson, but the emotional core of their rise.

In 1992, Duong founded California Waste Solutions (CWS) with eight used trucks and a quiet vow to rebuild a life rooted in integrity and service. “We went step by step, route by route, and the future slowly opened for us,” he says.

What began as a small operation grew into one of Northern California’s leading recycling and resource recovery providers. Today, CWS Oakland processes roughly 1,000 tons per week, while CWS San Jose handles 1,300 tons weeklyfor hundreds of thousands of residents.

As the company expanded, the next generation stepped forward. Michael Duong, David’s son, now serves as President of California Waste Solutions, guiding day-to-day leadership and shaping the company’s long-term direction. His stewardship marks the continuation of a family legacy built across decades of service and perseverance.

“Recycling gave my family a path into the middle class,” David Duong says. “It turned our refugee story into an American Dream that still grows.”

Gratitude pushed Duong to look back toward his homeland. Through Vietnam Waste Solutions, he introduced modern waste-management technology to Ho Chi Minh City, anchored by the Da Phuoc Integrated Waste Management Facility, one of Southeast Asia’s most advanced in environmental recycling and Sanitary Landfill facilities.

“At VWS, our system can handle greater than 7,500 tons per day,” he says. “We built facilities that protect the environment, improve public health, and increase economic development, and we built a bridge between Vietnam and the Vietnamese American community.”

In the United States, his support of the Oakland Dynamites youth football team enabled young athletes to compete on the national stage, reinforcing his belief that every child deserves access to opportunity. Together, these efforts show a philanthropic approach rooted not in charity alone, but in a commitment to strengthening communities on both sides of the Pacific.

For Duong, service is the through-line. “Success is not about how much money you make. It’s about how much benefit you bring to the community.”

Emotional stories go viral when they feel true.

And this one does. The King of Trash captures the Duong family’s escape, their rebuilding in America, and the decades of work behind California Waste Solutions, Vietnam Waste Solutions, and the creation of the Da Phuoc Facility. “The film preserves my father’s legacy and the truth of what our family went through,” Duong notes. “It shows how we found treasure in garbage bags and turned that into an opportunity for thousands.”

The story resonates because it reflects lived experience shared across generations.

For David Duong, the story continues. “My dream now is to prepare the next generation to lead California Waste Solutions and Vietnam Waste Solutions,” he says. With Michael Duong now leading CWS as President, and with the continued involvement of Kristina and Victor, the family’s companies remain grounded in the values that carried them from 1975 to today. “We built these companies from nothing,” he says. “I want them to serve communities long after I am gone.” His journey from refugee to environmental pioneer reinforces a timeless truth: when you hold on to your values, your family, and your purpose, you can build something that lasts.

That is the heart of David Duong’s story. And it is why more people are discovering it each day, one viewing and one share at a time.