Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnamis one of Asia’s five worst polluters of ocean plastic waste, according tointernational organisations. With 13 million tonnes of waste released to theocean every year, the country ranks 17th in the world for oceanplastic waste pollution.

Although there are no official statistics on theamount and varieties of plastic in the Vietnamese sea and islands, plasticwaste is easy to see in Vietnamese waters, with the country’s 112 estuaries themain gateways of plastic to the ocean.

Numbers from Vietnam’s Association of Plasticillustrate the scale of the problem. In 1990, each Vietnamese consumed 3.8kg ofplastic per year, but 25 years later, the figure hit 41kg.

As many as 1,000 plastic bags are used eachminute but only 27 percent of them are treated and recycled.

The Ministry of Natural Resources andEnvironment (MONRE) estimated that about 80 tonnes of plastic waste and bagsare thrown away every day in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City combined.

On the positive side, Vietnam has taken effortsto manage imported plastic scrap and monitor plastic production andconsumption.

Director General of the VietnamAdministration of Seas and Islands Ta Dinh Thi said in 2018, Vietnam proposed Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seasof East Asia and launched initiatives to foster global cooperationin plastic waste reduction.

A campaignlaunched by MONRE last year deliversthe message that single actions are not enough to address plastic pollution buta series of actions like plastic recycling, saying no to single plastic use andseeking alternative energy solutions can help.

Nguyen Le Tuan, Director of the Vietnam Instituteof Seas and Islands, said the first priority was to review legal documentsrelated to plastic waste’s risk management to complete legal framework on Vietnam’socean plastic waste combined with environmentally-friendly ocean growthstrategy.

As 80 percent of plastic waste comes from themainland, management on plastic production and consumption is of importance,according to experts. Vietnam is trying to make changes, starting with changingpublic behaviour.

Nguyen Thuong Hien, head of the solid wastemanagement department of MONRE’s Vietnam Environmental Administration said thatMONRE aimed to reduce 65 percent of non-biodegradable plastic bags used atsupermarkets and shopping malls by 2020 compare to 2010. By 2026, Vietnamtargets zero non-biodegradable plastic bags.

The majority of solid waste in Vietnam is treated by burning or dumped inlandfills. However, these methods are said to have low environmental andeconomic values because landfills cause land pollution while burning emitstoxic air.

According to Minister of Natural Resources andEnvironment Tran Hong Ha, Vietnam has studied methods to apply technology inmaking environmentally-friendly materials from waste.

“Technology application to limit landfills andtake advantage of values from waste is an urgent task,” he said.

Vietnam has recently succeeded in turning wasteto energy or organic carbon – a compound used to improve soil and applied inorganic agriculture.

The energy generated from waste has been usedfor the national grid in HCM City. The organic carbon soil has been certifiedto have higher nutrition levels than cow and chicken manure, even two timeshigher than organic bio-fertiliser.

Nguyen Gia Long,director of Hydraulic Machine Ltd Company and waste-to-energy inventor in Vietnam, said the technology couldbe applied in the community and follows global green energy trend and has lowinvestment in device and equipment and helps cut spending on hiring staffthanks to automation.

New Technology Company employs pyrolysistechnology which uses heat to recycle plastic. Because plastic waste treatmentand recycle sector plays a big role in environmental protection and renewableenergy development, Nguyen Thanh Tai, director of New Technology Company, saidthe State should grant preferential policies to individuals and organisationsto encourage them to invest in solid waste recycling.-VNS/VNA