A successful public-private cooperation strategy for managing plastic trash in Vietnam

DNHN - The public-private partnership to develop a circular economy for plastic waste management in Vietnam is an activity that falls under the umbrella of the Public-Private Partnership initiative to develop a circular economy for plastic waste management in Vietnam (called the Public-Private Partnership in Plastic Waste Management).

Two years ago, in response to the growing threat of plastic waste pollution, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and three businesses, including Dow Vietnam, SCG Group, and Unilever Vietnam pioneered plans to implement this project.

Despite being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, during the past 2 years, the initiative has been implemented with many practical activities following 4 key tasks and achieved positive results.

As a result, members of the initiative have a long history of collaborating with businesses and non-governmental organizations to establish and implement projects for sorting, collecting, and recycling plastic waste; as well as communication and education to raise public awareness and encourage action.

Besides, applying technology - innovation and recycling solutions in plastic waste management; dialogue, policy development to support the promotion of the circular economy in plastic waste management has been put into practice. 

The results are pretty encouraging. For instance, over 9,000 tons of recyclable material have been sorted and collected to date, including 6,520 tons of plastic waste; plastic waste sorting and collection activities have been extended directly to Hanoi's 18 wards and communes, totalling 41,400 homes, etc.

Additionally, more than 50 ministries and organizations actively communicated and spread the news about the initiative by utilizing 1,700 specialized trash containers built from 30 tons of recovered plastic garbage that serve as a source of waste sorting. In total, the projects received over 12 million hits as a result of mass media efforts.

"The formation and development of the Public-Private Cooperation group fosters synergy and offers a cooperative model for cooperatively resolving Vietnam's existing plastic waste problem. This is a practical platform to assist the Government and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in undertaking very practical initiatives and debates, as well as in comprehending the problems and obstacles that the private sector faces in assisting. "We will continue to promote and improve the legal policy framework," stated Mr Phan Tuan Hung, Director of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment's Legal Department. 

Ms Nguyen Thi Bich Van, President of Unilever Vietnam, expressed a similar sentiment, stating that public-private collaboration on plastic waste management is an urgent and very practical answer for supporting the economic model. Progress in plastic waste management in Vietnam, thereby aiming for a Vietnam devoid of plastic trash in the environment and contributing to the Government's promise at the COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow to bring net emissions to '0' by the middle of the century.

Meanwhile, Mr Ekkasit Lakkananithiphan, General Director of Dow Vietnam shared that Dow is delighted to see more and more stakeholders joining hands to promote the circular economy in Vietnam.

"As a materials science and solutions company, we will continue to collaborate with relevant groups to eliminate plastic waste from the environment and develop scientific and technological solutions that address both climate change and plastic trash," Mr Ekkasit Lakkananithiphan added. 

Mr Thanapat Kaweetraiphop, Commercial Director, Long Son Petrochemical Company Limited, a subsidiary of SCG, stated: "The Public-Private Partnership for Plastic Waste Management has worked to develop solutions for related pilot projects in Hanoi, Can Tho, and Ba Ria Vung Tau that are appropriate for each local context and sustainable in the long term."

As planned, the PPP initiative on plastic waste management will focus on goals such as behaviour change education, trash separation at the source, technological development, and plastic waste management initiatives over the next few years. recycling, dialogue, and policies that foster the creation of a circular economy.

Huyen Tram