Vietnam is grappling with a important plastic waste disaster. Every year, the nation generates 1.8 million tonnes of plastic waste, of which a couple of third results in the ocean. This constitutes 6 per cent of world marine plastic air pollution and locations it because the world’s fourth-largest marine plastic emitter. This example not solely exacerbates Vietnam’s environmental challenges but additionally casts a shadow over its worldwide fame, at a time when the nation has pledged sturdy commitments to sustainable growth and inexperienced transition.
The Communist Occasion of Vietnam (CPV) has sought to cope with plastic waste as a “prioritised mission”, laid out in Vietnam’s highest degree coverage paperwork, such because the Central Committee’s Decision 36 on maritime financial system and the Prime Minister’s Course No 33 on tackling plastic wastes. Former Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc additionally began a nationwide marketing campaign towards plastic waste, the narrative typically reserved for a very powerful political missions.
Addressing plastic waste in Vietnam includes navigating complicated challenges throughout three major sources: industrial manufacturing, family consumption, and imported plastic scrap. Every calls for tailor-made coverage options and presents totally different challenges.
After the amended Environmental Safety Legislation turned efficient in 2022, Vietnam turned one of many first Southeast Asian nations to implement an Prolonged Producer Accountability (EPR) coverage. This regulation requires producers and importers to handle their merchandise’ full lifecycle, both by means of recycling or contributing to Vietnam’s Environmental Safety Fund. By January 2024, EPR will apply to tyres, batteries, motor oil, and merchandise utilizing plastic baggage. It could apply to electronics in 2025 and automobiles in 2027.
Nevertheless, the practicality of imposing EPR inside a constrained timeline stays questionable. It should first require a basic shift within the notion of Vietnam as a low-cost manufacturing base with lax environmental norms. That is underscored by the truth that 68 per cent of firms with overseas direct funding (FDI) in Vietnam have been discovered to be in violation of environmental laws. As well as, evidently the implementation of Vietnam’s EPR coverage was introduced into impact with out enough consultations with the companies it impacts. This has sparked complaints over exorbitant and impractical recycling charges.
Compounding these challenges is Vietnam’s restricted recycling infrastructure, able to processing merely a 3rd of its whole plastic waste. Consequently, the EPR coverage dangers changing into ineffectual — theoretically sound, but virtually unenforceable. In such a situation, moderately than advancing sustainable growth, it might devolve into yet one more bureaucratic obstacle for companies.
Addressing the difficulty of family consumption, notably of single-use plastic merchandise which represent 72 per cent of Vietnam’s plastic waste, poses equal challenges. The federal government has adopted a sturdy supply-side strategy, planning to ban the manufacturing and importation of single-use plastic baggage by 2026. This extends to retail institutions akin to supermarkets, accommodations, eating places, and resorts. Varied consciousness campaigns have additionally been launched to encourage a plastic-free life-style amongst shoppers.
But, the impression of those measures has been restricted. On common, every of the nation’s 26 million households makes use of one kilogramme of plastic baggage every month, with 80 per cent of it ending up discarded. A latest coverage shift mandates sorting plastic waste on the supply by 2025 to assist remedy this observe. Nevertheless, contemplating previous failures in imposing related laws, the effectiveness of this new initiative is but to be decided.
Vietnam’s third main supply of plastic waste is imported plastic scrap. This situation garnered minimal consideration till 2018, when unclaimed containers of imported waste at main Vietnamese ports sparked public outrage. The situation unfolded within the wake of China’s 2017 ban on plastic waste imports, leaving Vietnam, alongside different Southeast Asian nations like Thailand and Indonesia, weak to changing into new dumping grounds. In 2018, Vietnam noticed a 62 per cent surge in plastic waste imports, a pattern that compelled the federal government to implement stringent measures.
Regardless of these efforts, Vietnam nonetheless ranks because the world’s fifth-largest importer of plastic scrap by the top of 2022. As imported scrap accounts for as a lot as 25 per cent of Vietnam’s whole plastic waste, this pattern exacerbates the pressure on its already overstretched recycling amenities.
Confronting Vietnam’s complicated plastic waste dilemma necessitates a multi-pronged technique. On the coverage entrance, the federal government has established a sturdy regulatory framework to cope with the plastic waste disaster. Nevertheless, the true check lies within the implementation and enforcement of those insurance policies.
Moreover, altering client behaviour in the direction of a extra environmentally pleasant life-style can also be a problem. The federal government has launched many strict measures, together with hefty fines for littering and never sorting waste correctly, in addition to proposed obligatory neighborhood service for violators. But, case research in Japan and Germany have proven that along with punitive measures (“sticks”), incentives (“carrots”) are additionally obligatory. As an illustration, shoppers could be incentivised to recycle plastic bottles in the event that they obtain a refund for returning them. Making recycling amenities extra accessible in public venues can also be important. In the long run, it’s crucial to combine the “three Rs” (Cut back, Reuse, and Recycle) into societal norms.
Partaking the non-public sector and civil society organisations (CSOs) is essential in bolstering the federal government’s efforts in these areas. Consequently, the lack of assist for personal recycling companies and up to date crackdowns on environmental NGOs not solely hampers productiveness in waste administration but additionally undermines the potential for efficient, society-driven options.
Moreover, contemplating the transnational nature of plastic air pollution — with six Southeast Asian nations that includes among the many high ten international marine plastic polluters — there’s a urgent want for enhanced cooperation inside ASEAN. In 2021, ASEAN launched the Regional Motion Plan for Combating Marine Particles within the ASEAN Member States (2021-2025). The plan, which is supported and funded by the World Financial institution and multi-donor belief fund PROBLUE, contains constructing a regional platform for EPR information. This can bolster Vietnam’s efforts to fight plastic waste.
Moreover, by collaborating with neighbouring nations, Vietnam has the chance to undertake and adapt good practices like Singapore’s deliberate deposit-refund scheme and Thailand’s Public-Personal Partnership for Plastic and Waste Administration. As well as, regional collaboration may facilitate the pooling of sources and experience, as proven within the case of RAP. This can profit Vietnam and Southeast Asia in combating the frequent environmental problem.
Nguyen Khac Giang is a visiting fellow on the Vietnam Research Programme of the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. He was beforehand analysis fellow on the Vietnam Heart for Financial and Strategic Research.
This text was first revealed on Fulcrum, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute’s weblog.