HCM City (VNS/VNA) - To stay competitive and ensurethe marketability of their products, enterprises need to switch to packagingthat meets sustainability requirements and is easily recyclable as more andmore consumers become aware of environment safety, a conference heard in Ho ChiMinh City on December 22.

Nguyen Nhu Khue, CEO of Lotus Chemical Technology Co., said packagingserves multiple functions but causes environmental damage over the course ofits life cycle.

With the concept of the circular economy becoming moreinfluential, designing packaging specifically to be recycled is becoming avital part of the packaging process, he said.

Sustainable packaging makes use of materials and manufacturingmethods that have a significantly low impact on both energy consumption and theenvironment, he said.

Reducing the weight and volume of packaging to the minimumnecessary while ensuring product safety and hygiene is a trend in e-commerceand shipping, he said.

Late last month, the EU Commission proposed regulations onpackaging and packaging waste that impose mandatory rates of recycled contentthat producers have to include in new plastic packaging, specifystandardisation for some packaging formats and ban certain forms of packagingamong other things.

Exporters need to monitor the market closely to keep up withmarkets’ requirements, Khue said.

Besides quality and price, packaging is also an important elementthat influences consumers’ buying decision, delegates said.

According to some studies, consumers nowadays focus on plant-basedproducts, products with good elements for health, indigenous products, andenvironmental protection.

Nguyen Thi Xuan Yen, a sustainable development researcher andpractitioner, said people are expressing their concern about sustainabilitythrough changes in lifestyle and product choices.

A study done by Global Scan pointed out that consumers in theAsia-Pacific region expect to buy more from socially and environmentallyresponsible companies post-pandemic, she said.

The top three ways that companies/brands can help facilitateconsumers’ healthy and sustainable lifestyles include providing products andservices that last for a long time, helping consumers save energy and waterwith their products and ensuring that all packaging is recyclable, reusable orcontains recycled content.

The conference was organised by the Business Association ofVietnamese High-Quality Products and the Vietnam Plastics Association./.