The US Dow Chemical Company is financing a training project on cleaner production and waste management in Vietnam to help local businesses create environmentally friendly products.

The Vietnam Centre for Environment and Clean Production under the Ministry of Industry and Trade provided technical assistance and sent experts to support the training courses in cities and provinces.

As many as 23 drills were held throughout the country with the participation of 1,551 enterprises, mainly operating in highly-polluting industries such as coal, cement and rubber.

The courses aimed to enhance businesses’ capacity to use natural resources and energy efficiently, recycle material for production, and mitigate their environmental impact.

The courses introduced participants to the application of production methods adapted to their operational scale with little investment costs.

The beneficiaries also learnt about building and managing databases on material production and consumption, as well as renewing and upgrading clean technology.

A number of awareness-raising campaigns were launched to increase businesses’ understanding of the importance of environmental protection and the application of cleaner production techniques to reduce waste and production costs.

Experts advised the Government to promote cleaner production methods amongst the business community, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises; to support initiatives on environmental protection; and develop competent experts in the field.

Further recommendations included adopting policies that encourage businesses to apply environmentally friendly production methods and helping them devise safe solutions to reduce possible risks and damage.-VNA