Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – An alliance of retailers who pledged to reduce the use of disposable plastic bags made its debut at a ceremony held by the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE) under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and Hanoi’s Department of Industry and Trade on January 14.
Vice director of the institute Nguyen Trung Thang said the two agencies have called on businesses to sign a commitment to join the alliance in a bid to reduce the consumption of single-use plastic products.
Illustrative image (Photo: vietnamnet.vn) This is part of activities within the framework of the “Rethinking Plastics - Circular Economy Solutions to Marine Litter in Vietnam” project funded by the European Union (EU) and the German Government.
The 16-member alliance is the first initiative to bring together retailers, helping them find a common voice in reducing the use of single-use plastic bags, towards protecting the environment and promoting sustainable development in Vietnam, Thang said.
According to Thang, the Prime Minister has issued a decision approving the scheme for strengthening management of plastic waste in Vietnam, which set to use 100 percent of environmentally friendly plastic bags and packaging at shopping centres and supermarkets for domestic purposes as replacement for non-biodegradable plastic bags; and collect, reuse, recycle and dispose 85 percent of generated plastic waste.
Thang said the ISPONRE will continue to coordinate with partners – the Vietnam Packaging Recycling Alliance, the World Wide Fund for Nature in Vietnam, the Embassy of the Netherlands in Vietnam, the Sustainable Trade Initiative, the Vietnam National Plastic Action Partnership programme, the Vietnam Business for Environment (VB4E) Alliance, and the Asia Foundation to promote communication activities to change public behaviour – in this field.
Acting Director of Hanoi’s Department of Industry and Trade Tran Thi Phuong Lan said the alliance will contribute to achieving the goal of reducing the use of disposable plastic bags in retail stores, thus realising the goal of sustainable production and consumption./.
