The initiative will be carried out by the PackagingRecycling Organisation Vietnam (PRO Vietnam) in collaboration with Sweden-basedfood processing and packaging solutions company Tetra Pak and Circular Action.
Eliseo Barcas, Managing Director of Tetra Pak Vietnam, saidevolving from the model of collecting cartons through informal waste collectorsinitiated by Tetra Pak in 2010, promoting collection of used beverage cartonsfor recycling has always been at the core of the company’s sustainability agenda.
What makes this pilot programme different from its previousprojects lies in its partnership with PRO Vietnam and the use of digitalsolutions from Circular Action to manage carton collection, according toBarcas.
Pham Phu Ngoc Trai, Chairman of PRO Vietnam, said it has decided to jointly execute this project in the hope of introducing anew approach to the collection of used drink cartons for recycling which hasbeen a challenging task in Vietnam.
It also intends to help improve income for informal wastecollectors and accelerate the growth of circular economy in the country, Traisaid.
It will raise awareness of the waste collectors and engagethem in collecting cartons at source. They will not only gain profits fromselling the used cartons to recyclers but also receive financial support fromthe programme based on the volume of the cartons they collect.
Three aggregators –Lagom, Tien Thanh Paper and VECA – have confirmed their participation in theinitiative. The companies will purchase used beverage cartons from informalcollectors and re-sell them to Dong Tien Paper Factory in Binh Duong where thecartons will be recycled into new products. More aggregators are expected tojoin the programme to increase the collection volume in the future.
In early 2022, Tetra Pak announced an investment worth 1.2million EUR (over 1.19 million USD) to expand the beverage carton recyclingcapacity at Dong Tien Paper Factory from 9,000 tonnes per year to 17,000 tonnesper year. The installation of the machines is expected to complete in early 2023 for theproject to begin in the second quarter of the same year./.