The event, jointly organised by the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE) under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), drew more than 50 delegates representing plastic waste reduction partners, government agencies, non-governmental organisations, and retailers.

Nguyen Trung Thang, ISPONRE’s deputy director, highlighted that the Government of Vietnam has approved many policies to limit plastic bags and single-use plastic products, and set a target to use 100% of environmentally friendly plastic bags and packaging at shopping malls and supermarkets by 2025 and to ensure the collection, reuse, recycling, and treatment of 85%of plastic waste.

The 2020 Law on Environmental Protection 2020 stipulates the manufacturer's responsibility for recycling and waste treatment as well as regulations on the reduction, recycling and treatment of plastic waste and prevention of ocean plastic waste pollution.

Activities in response to the International Plastic Bag Free Day at retailers are the first step to successfully implementing Vietnam's goal of reducing plastic waste pollution, Thang said.

According to Nguyen Thi Dieu Thuy, Director of WWF Vietnam's Plastic Waste Reduction Programme, activities of the Plastic Bag Free Day in Vietnam have been conducted in various forms, spreading the message of reducing the use of plastic bags.

In the coming time, members of the alliance of retailers to reduce plastic bag consumption will continue to carry out activities in this regard, she said, adding the Plastic Bag Free Day in Vietnam will continue to be implemented on Wednesdays in the country's major cities of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, and Can Tho at the Tops Markets supermarket system.

Source: VNA