New task force promotes innovation and financing for plastic waste reduction

Mette Møglestue, Deputy Head of Mission, the Norwegian Embassy delivers a speech at the launching of the NPAP Innovation and Financing Task Force on Thursday. Photo baotainguyenmoitruong.vn

HÀ NỘI – The Việt Nam National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP) has launched a new task force to promote innovation and catalyse investment in effective solutions for reducing plastic waste and pollution in Việt Nam.

In collaboration with the Royal Norwegian Embassy and its Commercial Section - Innovation Norway, the Task Force held its first meeting to discuss new technologies for Deposit Return Systems (DRS) yesterday.

The NPAP Innovation and Financing Task Force, co-chaired by the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Natural Science and Environment (MONRE) and the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, brought together government agencies and domestic and international enterprises and organisations to boost innovative ideas and solutions to drive positive changes in plastic reduction, reuse and recycling and to unlock new sources of sustainable financing.

DRS is a scheme where consumers pay a small deposit when purchasing bottles or cans. The deposit is refunded when they return the container to a designated collection point. This scheme economically incentivises consumers to return used containers for reuse and recycling, reducing pressure on landfills and protecting rivers and oceans from plastic litter.

High-performing DRS can significantly accelerate the circularity of beverage containers like plastic bottles and aluminum cans with high recovery rates and is a key approach for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) by companies that produce and use such containers.

In her opening remarks, Mette Møglestue, Deputy Head of Mission at the Norwegian Embassy said: “DRS has proven to be the best performing system that induces the highest collection and highest recycling rate of beverage containers. Regarded as the world's role model for beverage container recovery and recycling, Norway’s DRS is one of the most efficient in the world and is part of the EPR mechanism.”

Highlighting Norway’s successful cooperation model among government-research-industry, Møglestue emphasised: “Within the framework of our cooperation with the Vietnamese Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and related stakeholders, we appreciate the opportunity to share Norway’s success stories and international practices to help strengthen Vietnamese legal framework on EPR and DRS”.

The chair of the Task Force, Lê Ngọc Tuấn, Director General of MONRE’s International Cooperation Department, emphasised that the establishment of the NPAP Innovation and Financing Task Force is part of the plan agreed upon at the annual meeting of the NPAP Leadership Board on 12 April 2023. This is the first task force to be launched and to become operational within the framework of the Việt Nam NPAP to meet the requirements of the actual situation after two years of implementation in Việt Nam.

“This launch demonstrates a suitable approach in line with the overall agenda of Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP), and will contribute to supporting and promoting innovative solutions for tackling plastic waste and plastic pollution in Việt Nam, through convening and mobilising resources and support for Việt Nam and strengthening capacity to access and share technologies related to plastic waste reduction,” he said.

Members of the new Task Force include the Việt Nam National Innovation Center (NIC), Dow Việt Nam, Unilever, An Phát Holdings, Duy Tân Recycling, GreenHub, Startup Vietnam Foundation (SVF), Innovation Norway, UNDP, and the World Bank.

The task force has also attracted the participation of innovators from UNDP’s Ending Plastic Pollution Challenges (EPPIC) such as Galaxy Biotech, who encouraged other innovators to access the NPAP platform and explore new investment opportunities.

Commercial Counsellor of the Norwegian Embassy, Director of Innovation Norway Arne-Kjetil Lian spoke highly of the launch of the Innovation & Financing taskforce.

“Possessing many pioneering technologies and solutions as well as expertise in the circular economy sector, Norwegian companies have a lot to share with Việt Nam. Our lessons with DRS shared at the workshop today will be the first ones. DRS can significantly accelerate the circularity of beverage containers and improve sustainable packaging while promoting changes in consumer behaviours. Besides, an effective DRS system helps increase the collection rate, which in turn, leads to more ambitious recycling targets and ensures that EPR obligations are fulfilled,” Lian said.

Participants shared their experiences and expertise on DRS, including benefits, challenges, and a planned pilot activity and feasibility study to develop policy recommendations on applying DRS in Việt Nam. They also discussed the NPAP task force work plan in 2023 that should explore and leverage the current resources for promoting plastic innovations and good practices.