Deputy head of the ministry’s Institute of Strategy and Policy on National Resources and Environment (ISPONRE) Nguyen Trung Thang said that currently, manufacturers are considering changes totechnology to meet market demand and comply with State regulations.
Thang said over the past time, Vietnam has seen many positive signals inpromoting the restriction of plastic bags.
He took the establishment of the Plastic Alliance's pilotproject as an example.
The Plastic Alliance gathers 16 retailers that pledge toreduce the use of disposable plastic bags. It is part of the “RethinkingPlastics - Circular Economy Solutions to Marine Litter in Vietnam” projectfunded by the European Union (EU) and the German Government, and carried out byExpertise France.
The alliance has stepped up communication programmes directedat retailers and on social media platforms to change consumer behaviour andreduce single-use plastic bags and plastic products.
According to an ISPONRE survey, up to 104,000 single-useplastic bags are used at supermarkets each day, equivalent to 38 million bags ayear. Among the 48 supermarkets surveyed, 46 are providing plastic bags free ofcharge.
Therefore, Vietnam has set a target of using 100 percentenvironmentally-friendly bags at commercial centres and supermarkets by 2025.
To that end, many policies have been approved by theVietnamese Government to limit plastic bags and single-use plastic products,including the National Strategy on Integrated Management of Solid Waste to2025, with a vision to 2050.
The 2020 Law on Environmental Protection also stipulates theresponsibility of manufacturers for waste recycling and treatment, and includesregulations on the reduction, recycling and treatment of plastic waste as wellas prevention and control of ocean plastic waste./.