BinhDinh (VNA) – A workshop recently took place in Quy Nhon city, central BinhDinh province, to discuss the improvement of awareness in plastic waste collectionand recycling to promote the circular economy in Vietnam.

The eventwas held by PepsiCo Vietnam, the Centre of Education and Development (CED), and the Vietnam Chamber of Industry and Commerce (VCCI) - Da Nang branch. It was partof the “Increase awareness in plastic waste management” project funded byPepsiCo Foundation through Give2Asia and implemented by CED in collaborationwith partners in Vietnam from January 2020 to December 2022. 

One ofthis project’s objectives is to raise awareness of small and medium enterprises(SMEs) in Vietnam through plastic waste collection and treatment management inorder to apply a circular economy model for sustainable business development.

The workshop saw the participation of 70 delegates from producersand importers of food, cosmetics, drugs, fertilisers, animal feed, detergents,etc., in the central region, representatives of the Ministry of Natural Resourcesand Environment (MoNRE), VCCI Da Nang, URENCO Hanoi, Duy Tan Plastic RecyclingCompany, and other organisations.

Participantsfocused on introducing specific regulations and newrequirements on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for enterprises andcreating a roadmap for the implementation of these regulations; Vietnameseenterprises’ willingness to accept EPR; and current awareness, practices, andspecific plans of enterprises to practice EPR.

JirawatPoomsrikaew, Director of Corporate Affairs for Indochina at PepsiCo, said:"At Pepsico, we are helping to build a positive circular and inclusivepositive value chain. We plan to introduce moresustainable packaging into the value chain, and to cut virginplastic per serving by 50% across our global food and beverageportfolio by 2030. We’ll do this by using 50% recycled content in our plasticpackaging and scaling business models that avoid or minimise single-useplastic, like SodaStream, among other levers."

To promote a circular economy and sustainable development, EPR is one ofthe many tools that have a close relationship to and also represents a drivingforce to promote and maintain a circular economy.

NguyenThi, legal expert from the MoNRE’s Department of Legal Affairs, said EPR is aneconomic tool and considered a new approach towards the goal of increasing wastereuse, recycling, and reduction by promoting changes in product and packagingdesign, expanding the capability to use environmentally friendly materials, andlooking for financial solutions to handle waste management problems, thereby helpingthe Government achieve its environmental goals without raising environmental taxesor fees.

Delegatesfrom the MoNRE, businesses, and experts at the workshop also shared withbusinesses many financial solutions of waste management and recycling.

NguyenTien Quang, Director of the VCCI Da Nang branch said EPR is an environmentalpolicy based on the principle of "Polluter pays", noting that itencourages manufacturers to consider environmental issues right from the conceptto the design, production and consumption of products, and include wastemanagement costs into production costs.

ERPalso opens up opportunities for firms to focus on business and productionlinked with environmental protection, and encourages them to strengthenlinkages and recycle waste, thus contributing to the development of a circulareconomy model, he added./.