Hanoi (VNA) – A workshop has been heldin Hanoi, aiming to share results and experiences in reducing the use ofplastic bags at supermarkets and retailers.
The event, jointly organised by the Instituteof Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE) under theMinistry of Natural Resources and Environment and the World Wide Fund forNature (WWF), drew more than 50 delegates representing plastic wastereduction partners, government agencies, non-governmental organisations, andretailers.
Nguyen Trung Thang, ISPONRE’s deputy director, highlighted that the Government ofVietnam has approved many policies to limit plastic bags and single-use plasticproducts, and set a target to use 100% of environmentally friendly plastic bags and packaging at shopping malls and supermarkets by 2025 and to ensure the collection, reuse, recycling, and treatment of 85%of plastic waste.
The 2020 Law onEnvironmental Protection 2020 stipulates the manufacturer's responsibility forrecycling and waste treatment as well as regulations on the reduction, recyclingand treatment of plastic waste and prevention of ocean plastic waste pollution.
Activities in responseto the International Plastic Bag Free Day at retailers are the first step tosuccessfully implementing Vietnam's goal of reducing plastic waste pollution,Thang said.
According to Nguyen Thi Dieu Thuy, Director of WWF Vietnam's Plastic Waste Reduction Programme, activitiesof the Plastic Bag Free Day in Vietnam have been conducted in various forms, spreadingthe message of reducing the use of plastic bags.
In the coming time,members of the alliance of retailers to reduce plastic bag consumption willcontinue to carry out activities in this regard, she said, adding the PlasticBag Free Day in Vietnam will continue to be implemented on Wednesdays in the country's major cities of Hanoi, Ho ChiMinh City, Hai Phong, and Can Tho at the Tops Markets supermarket system./.