Vietnam to ban plastic bags by 2030 including those in usage at wet markets

Supermarkets in Vietnam have already started using environmentally-friendly bags. - Vietnam News/ANN

HANOI, May 14 (Xinhua): Vietnam will ban the use of all plastic bags from 2030, including those in wet markets, Vietnam News Agency had reported.

The country has also set a target of using 100 per cent environmentally-friendly bags at commercial centers and supermarkets by 2025, the news agency cited the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment as reporting.

A survey by the ministry's Institute of Strategy and Policy on National Resources and Environment showed that up to 104,000 single-use plastic bags are used at Vietnam's supermarkets each day, equivalent to 38 million bags a year.

Vietnamese people consume about 3.9 million tons of plastic per year, while only 1.28 million tons of plastic are recycled, according to a report by the World Bank.

Plastics are commonly used in a wide range of industries in the country, including packaging, consumer goods, electronics, automotives, aviation, textiles, and agriculture, it said.

Deputy head of the ministry’s Institute of Strategy and Policy on National Resources and Environment (ISPONRE) Nguyen Trung Thang said that currently, manufacturers are considering changes to technology to meet market demand and comply with State regulations.

Thang said over the past time, Vietnam has seen many positive signals in promoting the restriction of plastic bags.

Many policies have been approved by the Vietnamese Government to limit plastic bags and single-use plastic products, including the National Strategy on Integrated Management of Solid Waste to 2025, with a vision to 2050.

The 2020 Law on Environmental Protection also stipulates the responsibility of manufacturers for waste recycling and treatment, and includes regulations on the reduction, recycling and treatment of plastic waste as well as prevention and control of ocean plastic waste. - Xinhua