Dialogue on plastic and plastic waste - Policy gaps need to be closed

On February 02, 2023, Vietnamese Stature Foundation (VSF) organized “Dialogue on plastic and plastic waste – Policy gaps need to be closed” with the participation of more than 60 representatives from state management agencies on environment, press/media agencies, businesses, environmental networks, social organizations, community groups, youth and other vulnerable groups.

Dialogue on plastic and plastic waste - Policy gaps need to be closed

This is the 9th activity within the framework of the project "Female reporter in action to reduce plastic waste and plastic pollution".

In the recent year, communication about the environment in general and plastic waste in particular has become increasingly popular in the mass media, as well as receiving great attention from the community and society. New policies of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 will take effect from the beginning of 2022, with the first priority is regulations on the protection of environmental components, clearly demonstrate the cross-cutting goal of protecting people's health. However, plastic products, especially disposable plastic, are still widely used due to their convenience and low-cost.

Therefore, Vietnamese Stature Foundation (VSF) organizes a dialogue with the participation of many stakeholders to share information about the status of plastic pollution, plastic waste plastic waste in Vietnam and the impact of plastic waste on human health; Strengthen cooperation mechanism among stakeholders in reducing plastic pollution and plastic waste; Recommendations for policies and advocacy communication to reduce and recycle plastic waste in Vietnam.

Speaking at the opening of the Dialogue, Ms. Tran Thi Nhu Trang – Director of the Vietnamese Stature Foundation: “We hope that the event will be a bridge, help the parties get more information and jointly come up with appropriate solutions on the journey of changing awareness, forming habits and civilized lifestyles of people, and above all, protect the environment for the sustainable development of the country”.

At the event, policy issues, current status and impacts of plastic waste on the environment and public health, the difficulties in the working process of reporters and journalists have been shared and received a positive response.

Meanwhile, many topical issues were actively discussed at the dialogue session. That is the problem of medical plastic waste, as 1,300 hospitals and more than 10,000 medical stations emit an average of 22 - 23 tons of medical waste per day. According to Associate Professor Nguyen Huy Nga – Director of the Center for Health Environment Research And Development (CHEARAD), although the Ministry of Health has issued Circular 20 on medical waste management, there are no specific guidelines on plastic waste treatment. Equipment manufacturing units need to be guided and strictly managed on materials and output products. The entry criteria of hospital also need to consider eco-friendly medical devices, aka “green” products.

Ms. Tran Thi Nhu Trang – Director of the Vietnamese Stature Foundation

That is the challenge of materials in recycling. According to Ms. Kim Thuy Ngoc - Head of International Cooperation Planning Department, Institute of strategy and policy on natural resources and environment (ISPONRE) – Ministry of natural resources and environment, while imported plastic that has been washed from abroad is quite abundant but domestic raw materials are unstable because of not being classified and cleaned according to recycling standards. Up to now, products are made from recycled materials on the market which there are no quality standard to compete with products from virgin plastic.

In fact, the production cost of recycled products is higher than the cost of products made from virgin plastic. The problem of handling domestic waste will be increasingly difficult when businesses do not have access to specific incentives to do this type of work.

It is a matter of the press participating in propaganda for the community for the harmful effects of waste as well as promoting a lifestyle that reduces disposable plastic products. Journalist Do Doan Hoang - Dan Viet newspaper said, not that the press has never investigated the violations of illegal waste collection and treatment units. Related "hot" topics have been mentioned in many topics of press agencies for decades. However, the profits of this illegal recycling industry are too great, the story of billionaires and the economic growth of "junk villages" will continue as long as there is still a gap between the media and law enforcement.

The guests also made many specific recommendations, including: Encouraging strong cooperation and participation of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; Promoting propaganda, raising public awareness as well as the harmful effects of using plastic bags and plastic items; mobilizing people to "say no to plastic bags" and actively waste segregation at source. Along with that, state management agencies need to increase taxes and license, strictly control the production of plastic products; saying no to importing scrap from abroad for recycling; at the same time regulations related to recycling responsibility, handling responsibilities of manufacturer need to have more specific guidelines to be put into practice.

Conversation is one of the necessary activities to help the relating of parties which increase connections to contribute to the common goal of reducing plastic waste; increase recycling, reuse of plastic, promote green lifestyle and sustainable consumption.

Source: Vietnam Plastics Association

See more:

1. New regulations on plastic waste management!

2. Managing ocean plastic waste in some countries and lessons learned for Vietnam