Currently, many enterprises such as Vinamilk, Nestlé Vietnam, Thuan An Paper Company, Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam Company have been embracing the circular economy through activities of recycling and reusing waste, wastewater, and emissions.
Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam's Deputy General Director of External Affairs, Do Thai Vuong, stated that the company has innovated and improved its packaging. The changes aim to reduce virgin plastic usage and increase the incorporation of recycled plastic. Additionally, the company is switching to biodegradable packaging.
Aquafina offers the world's lightest plastic packaging for its bottled water at just 11 grams, as well as the lightest bottled tea in Asia at only 13 grams.
He disclosed that this transformation has enabled the company to reduce the amount of plastic by 23 percent compared to previous levels. Through green initiatives in production, the company has reduced about 5,700 tons of virgin plastic each year, equivalent to reducing 23,000 tons of CO2 emissions into the environment. Sustainable development is one of the important strategies and many companies have pioneered in implementing it for over 15 years.
Director of External Affairs Do Thanh Tuan of Vietnam Dairy Products Company (Vinamilk) stated that in 2023, the company declared its commitment and strategic plan to achieve Net Zero by 2050. Vinamilk's factories and farms have simultaneously adopted environmentally sustainable technologies, reduced emissions, and embraced circular economy practices, aiming for a waste-free operation.
The company has made significant strides in sustainability. Currently, they recycle and reuse 85 percent of wastewater from cattle farming in cultivation, and recover and reuse 92 percent of excess emissions through a heat circulation system. By implementing green initiatives, they have reduced CO2 emissions by 3 percent per ton of product and saved approximately 877,125 kW of electricity in 2023. This translates to a CO2 reduction of about 26.31 tons in 2023.
A representative of TH True Milk Company announced that the organization initiated an annual campaign titled ‘Collecting Cartons - Spreading Green Living’ within its retail network in 2022. In 2023, the TH True Milk store network successfully gathered nearly 1.9 tons of packaging, reflecting a 72 percent increase from the previous year.
To further advance recycling efforts and utilize resources derived from plastic waste, the company collaborated with the For Vietnamese Stature Fund and Green Future Plastic Company in September 2023 to support the establishment of a kindergarten in Quan Son District of Thanh Hoa Province.
A unique aspect of this school is that 50 percent of the materials used in each brick and tile are recycled from 45 tons of plastic.
It is estimated that the company each year decreases over 600 tons of plastic through adoption of simultaneous environmentally friendly production and consumption.
Government needs to specify support policies
However, many companies voiced their opinions that policies related to circular economy are not yet complete, unified and not really specific and practical. According to companies and environmental experts, the government should specify support policies to better promote circular economy.
Deputy General Director Do Thai Vuong assessed that the existing legal framework presents numerous obstacles to the implementation of a circular economy. Specifically, packaging produced from recycled materials has not received significant financial backing to facilitate its expansion and to generate lasting effects.
Specifically, according to Circular No. 02/2022/TT-BTNMT regulating the implementation of extended responsibility of manufacturers and importers for packaging (EPR), the recycling cost norm for rPET (recycled plastic) and PET (virgin plastic) materials applies the same price of VND1,979 a kg.
A price differential between rPET and PET is essential to motivate the adoption of rPET. This would acknowledge the initiatives taken by companies to utilize recycled plastic packaging, ultimately fostering growth within the industry and enhancing the collection and recycling market.
With the same opinion, General Director Arghya Mandal of TH true Milk Joint Stock Company said that the EPR regulations are not really clear, and there is still a gap to expand the application to the nation economy. Collecting and transporting agricultural waste and used products for recycling necessitates intricate and costly logistics solutions.
Furthermore, not all localities have efficient infrastructure for treating and recycling waste as per circular model which is highly likely to hinder the large-scale implementation of circular economy. Therefore, he emphasized the need to have more supporting policies to encourage and motivate enterprises’ transition from a linear production model to a circular model. These should include not only financial support but also the development of standardized technical guidelines and efficient production processes to facilitate businesses' adoption of circular practices.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Phuong Hoa of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said that the ministry will continue to work closely with relevant organizations and the business community to implement policies and programs aimed at promoting source waste classification and facilitating efficient collection and recycling.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has urged local authorities to enhance public understanding of the importance of recycling, and motivate businesses to engage in the production and utilization of eco-friendly packaging. This initiative is crucial for advancing the objective of attaining net zero emissions by 2050.
