More than 1.8 million tons of plastic are released in Vietnam each year, of which only about 27% of plastic bags are recycled.
Vietnam is the third highest plastic consumption per capita in ASEAN (after Malaysia and Thailand) with 41.3 kg per year, according to a newly report published by Ipsos Business Consulting. Plastic consumption increased by about 10% per year in the period 1990-2015, from 3.8 kg to approximately 41 kg. Last year, the country consumed more than 3.98 million tons of plastic.
Ipsos Business Consulting said that Vietnam is at risk of becoming a world landfill when many countries take advantage of the policy gap to introduce a large amount of poor quality plastic scrap.
The misuse of plastic packaging has been identified by Vietnamese consumers as a serious problem but not equal to climate change, air pollution, waste treatment,… About one third of consumers participated in the survey in September 2018 showed that it was indispensable for plastic bottles and food wrap to be used in daily life.
Mr. Quach The Phong, Director of Ipsos Vietnam Customer Consulting, said that changing consumers’ habits about using plastic bags was a big challenge. Keeping up with the world’s trend of limiting plastic by using biodegradable bags, using banana leaves to wrap products,… is being applied by many manufacturing enterprises and retailers but the spread level has not been large yet. The plastic recycling industry in Vietnam is also facing many shortcomings such as unsynchronized waste treatment systems, loose management, small-scale factories and outdated technology.”
“”The government aims to eliminate disposable plastic by banning single-use plastic bags at all stores, supermarkets and traditional markets by 2021 and across the country by 2025. However, this target faces many barriers such as lack of clear guidelines, tariff barriers …””, Mr. Phong said.”
Source: VnExpress.
