Hanoi (VNA) – A workshop was held by the Ministry of Environment andNatural Resources (MoNRE) in Ho Chi Minh City on August 15 to promote theExtended Producer Responsibility (ERP) Act among manufacturers and importersunder the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection.

Accordingto the MoNRE’s Legal Department, the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection hasintroduced a legal framework on ERP, under which producers and importers holdtwo responsibilities – recycling products and packaging they produce or import,and managing and treating products and packaging that containhazardous substances or are difficult to be disposed of.

Theywill be required to find a system to recycle their products and packaging; ormake a financial contribution to the Vietnam Environment Protection Fund tosupport the process.

Theregulations will be applicable from 2024.

Speakingat the event, Phan Tuan Hung, Director of the department, said theERP is a new approach to seek a financial solution for managing waste andincreasing recycling without raising environmental protection taxes and fees.It is also expected to give a push to the circular economy, he said.

Ifit is implemented well, Vietnam will be able to maintain closed circulation ofresources in production.  

Manyenterprises have fulfilled their recycling obligations by contributing to theEnvironment Protection Fund in the first installments, Hung shared on thesidelines of the workshop.

Hesaid that after August 20, all companies that fail or delay to make theirfinancial contributions to the fund will be subject to fines of up to 2 billionVND (85,451 USD)./.