Vietnamese volunteers collect waste on the streets to enhance public awareness. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnamese businesses cannot stand outside the circulareconomy, especially in the context of global economic integration withcommitments on ecological and environmental safety standards through free tradeagreements, heard a conference on the theme in Hanoi in early August.
A circular economy is an economic system combatingpollution and achieving more sustainable development by reusing and recyclingdefunct products. Promoting the circular economy for enterprises requiresactive innovation, investment in modern technology, limiting energy consumptionand using raw materials to produce output products capable of being recycled.
According to Nguyen Quang Vinh, General Secretaryof Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and Vice Chairman of VietnamBusiness Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD), the number of enterprisesinterested in innovation and the business model of circular economy has beenincreasing in the last three years.
However, Vinh said the circular economy is still anew concept for many Vietnamese businesses, especially small and mediumenterprises.
“The development of the circular economy in Vietnamis posed as an indispensable need and must be implemented,” he said at theseminar.
Vinh mentioned a study by Accenture Strategy, amultinational professional services company providing services in strategy,consulting, digital technology and operations, which revealed a circulareconomic model can open up market opportunities worth up to 4.5 trillion USD andcreate millions of jobs for the global economy by 2030.
“Many large corporations have been implementing thecircular economy in their organisation,” he said.
However, the circular economy in Vietnam is onlypopular at large enterprises.
For example, Unilever has a programme to collectand recycle plastic packaging and waste separation at source; and Coca Cola hasa programme to collect and classify plastic bottles. The two companies are coremembers of the ‘Zero Waste to Nature’ initiative, a part of the Vietnam Centrefor Circular Economy hosted by VBCSD.
Executive Director of the US Business Council forSustainable Development Andrew Thomas Mangan cited statistics that showed Vietnamgenerated about 27 million tonnes of waste in 2015. Now up to 70 percentof waste treatment yards are not classified as hygienic burial sites.
To turn waste into valuable materials, Mangan saidbusinesses face many difficulties, including controlling and buildingdatabases. Therefore, it is difficult for investors to access the raw materialsresources as well as assessing and controlling information about raw materialsin the country.
According to Vinh, there have been a number ofprojects by scientists and domestic and foreign organisations deployed in Vietnamto recycle plastic waste and contribute to promoting the circular economy,creating green production, green consumption and changing awareness ofenvironmental protection in each individual.
“In order to promote the development of thecircular economy, it is necessary to perfect the system of standards andregulations as a basis for waste recycling and the linkages among researchinstitutes, universities, scientists and businesses,” Vinh said.
At the macro level, Vietnam has already had policiesin place to facilitate the circular economy. In 2017, the Prime Minister alsoapproved a project to develop Vietnam's environment industry to 2025 in orderto form an environment industry that can meet the contents of the circulareconomy.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade is currentlydrafting a National Action Programme on Sustainable Production and Consumption,which will be implemented in the period of 2021-30.
At the local level, HCM City has set a series ofgoals including reducing 60 percent of plastic bags by 2020 at supermarkets andtrade centres and 50 percent in traditional markets.
Meanwhile, renewable energy and new energy willreach 1.7 percent of total energy capacity. At the same time, the relocation ofpollution production facilities in residential areas is still ongoing.-VNA
