A contest was launched in the Red River Delta province of Hung Yen on August 15, seeking initiatives, new models and products that can help to reduce plastic waste.
Themed “Say no to plastic waste,” the contest is jointly held by the Viet Nam Environment & Urban Magazine and Hung Yen Urban Environment and Public Works Ltd., Co.Through the contest, authors of feasible initiatives and models will be connected with businesses and agencies so that those ideas will be implemented nationwide. Entries can be sent to the organisers via post and email, or to the magazine’s representative offices from August 15, 2019 to February 15 next year. The first, second, third and consolidation prizes will be presented to the most outstanding initiatives, models and products at a ceremony slated for June 5, 2020, in coincidence with the World Environment Day. At the contest’s launch, the organising board highlighted the threat posed by plastic waste to the world and Vietnam in particular, citing the United Nations Environment Programme report which said the world uses up to 500 billion plastic bags and discharges around 300 million tonnes of plastic waste each year. About 40 percent of plastic produced is used for packaging. Meanwhile, Viet Nam discharges about 1.8 million tonnes of plastic every year, standing 17th among 109 countries in terms of the plastic waste volume released. Of that amount, some 730,000 tonnes are released to the oceans, accounting for some 6 percent of the world’s plastic volume dumped at sea. That has made the country the fourth biggest polluter of ocean plastic waste.The country aims to reduce the volume of non-biodegradable plastic bags used at supermarkets and shopping malls by 65 percent by 2020 compare to 2010. By 2026, it targets zero non-biodegradable plastic bags.
