Page 38 - Platics News June 2022

Vietnam Aims To Ban e Use Of All Plastic Bags By 2030 Us First-Quarter Scrap Plas-
tic Exports Down 21%

he U.S. continues to export less
Tand less scrap plastic overseas
as per the latest trade gures show.
According to the U.S. Census Bu-
reau, over 261 million pounds were
exported from the U.S. during the
rst quarter of 2022, down 21%
year over year. e decline follows a
he Vietnamese Government is con- to implement the ban comes after an rough years-long trend of dropping
Tsidering imposing sanctions on ISPONRE representative announced exports. During the rst quarter of
plastic bags sold at markets across the last month that supermarkets and retail- 2021, 333 million pounds were ex-
country by 2030, the Vietnam News ers would be ned for o ering single-use ported, which was actually up from
Agency has reported. Nguyen Trung plastic bags to customers from 2026. 311 million pounds during the same
ang, deputy head of the Vietnam Vietnam aims to use fully environmen- period in 2020.But that 2020 num-
Natural Resources and Environment tally friendly bags at all its stores and ber was down sharply from rst-
Ministry’s Institute of Strategy and Pol- supermarkets by 2025. e Vietnamese quarter numbers of 374 million
pounds, 711 million pounds and
icy on National Resources and Environ- Government has approved several poli-
1.125 billion pounds in 2019, 2018
ment, said that the ban will also include cies that aim to meet this target, includ-
and 2017, respectively. e biggest
wet markets. e news agency reported ing its National Strategy on Integrated
impacts of China’s National Sword
ang as saying that manufacturers are Management of Solid Waste to 2025. campaign went into e ect starting
currently looking at making changes to In December 2020, the government co- in 2018. e latest numbers brought
technology to meet the government reg- launched the Vietnam National Plastic some notable changes to the top 10
ulations and address the growing market Action Partnership (NPAP), which aims destinations for plastic recyclables:
demand. ISPONRE noted that Viet- to reduce the ow of plastic waste into Canada at 78 million pounds (down
namese supermarkets collectively use up the ocean. e NPAP was founded in 23% year over year), Mexico at 54
to 104,000 single-use plastic bags every collaboration with the World Economic million pounds (up 33%), Malay-
sia at 33 million pounds (down
day on average. In addition, 46 out of Forum’s (WEF) Global Plastic Action
49%), India at 23 million pounds
48 supermarkets in the country said in Partnership. It has developed a roadmap
(up 33%), Indonesia at 15 million
a survey that they provide plastic bags to help remove single-use plastic and
pounds (up 1%), Germany at 9 mil-
free of charge, with each of them using non-biodegradable plastic bags from cit-
lion pounds (up 374%), Vietnam at
1,454 plastic bags a day. A report by ies, coastal tourist destinations and ma- 7 million pounds (down 70%), El
the World Bank found that Vietnamese rine-protected areas. Vietnam has set a Salvador at 7 million pounds (up
people used around 3.9 million tonnes target of using 100 percent environmen- 30%), Turkey at 7 million pounds
of plastic a year, with only 1.28 million tally-friendly bags at commercial centres ( at year over year) and Ecuador at
tonnes of this being recycled. e plan and supermarkets by 2025. 3 million pounds (down 16%).

38 PLASTICS NEWS June 2022