VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam has successfully made friendly plastic bags which can decompose after a short time. However, petty merchants and consumers still turn their back to the kind of bags.

Cheaper products still preferred

The friendly plastic bags cannot be found at the traditional markets in Hanoi. Normal plastic bags still have been used to contain goods.

Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan, a petty merchant at the Kim Lien Market, when asked about friendly plastic bags, said she would use the cheaper bags, while she does not care if the bags are friendly to the environment.

In fact, even if Lan wants to use friendly bags, she cannot find the products in the market. And the friendly plastic bags have not been available in the market because there is no demand for the bags.

While normal plastic bags can be seen everywhere, friendly plastic bags can be seen only at supermarkets. Nguyen Huu Tien, Deputy Director of Nina Green, a friendly bag manufacturer, said the company has been making the products since 2003, but just for export to the European market.

Also according to Tien, the products have been put into sale in the domestic market in 2012, but the sale has been going very slowly since then. Tien confirmed that only supermarkets accept friendly plastic bags, while the products are unsalable at traditional markets.

In fact, only some big supermarkets such as Big C or Metro have been providing environment friendly bags to customers. Meanwhile, other supermarkets refuse those bags.

The problem is that though being exempted from the environment tax, friendly plastic bags are still more expensive than normal bags. With the production cost higher by 10 percent, friendly bags have been selling at VND50,000 per kilo.

Meanwhile, normal plastic bags are cheaper, at VND41,000 – 50,000 per kilo, even though they bear the environment tax of VND30,000-50,000 per kilo.

Tran Thi Ha, a merchant who sells plastic bags at the Kim Lien Market, also said normal bags still have been preferred thanks to the lower prices.

Experts have commented that the price levels of VND41,000-50,000 are “irrational,” because they are just high enough to cover the tax rate, not including the expenses on materials, production cost and distribution cost.

They have urged competent agencies to clarify the “irrationalism,” or it would stifle the production of friendly plastic bags, the products the government encourages to make.

Friendly products cannot win consumers’ hearts

The majority of polled consumers said they do not ask the sellers to provide friendly plastic bags.

Le Thi Thanh Mai, a housewife, said it is no use to ask for friendly plastic bags. “No one has friendly bags to give to you,” she explained. “Why do you still demand friendly bags, if normal bags can also be used to hold goods?”

Analysts have commented it’s nearly impossible to persuade people to use friendly plastic bags, once normal bags are still cheaper than friendly bags, while using friendly bags is not a must.

They also said that it will take a long time to change the habit of Vietnamese consumers of using normal plastic bags to hold goods. Tran Thi Hiep, a consumer, frankly said she finds it more convenient to use normal bags which fit all kinds of goods she buys.

Thien Nhien