Unilever Vietnam and People’s Committee of District 7 sign an MoU for the “Plastic waste segregation at source, collection and recycling to drive circular economy model” by 2025. — Photo courtesy of Unilever

Unilever Vietnam and the People’s Committee of District 7 in HCM City have organised a festive day named “Plastic Segregation for Recycling” in District 7 to raise public awareness and encourage people to practice waste segregation at source.

The event included a range of activities such as the Circular Economy Exhibition, which introduces the comprehensive process, from waste segregation, collection, recycling to manufacturing PCR-made (post-consumer resin) packaging.

In addition, people could practice trash segregation on-site via game-based activities such as exchanging plastic waste for rewards.

The event marked an important milestone for the “Plastic waste segregation at source, collection and recycling to drive circular economy model by 2025” programme between the two that aims towards strengthening plastic waste management, including reduction, reuse and recycling.

The partnership will focus on bringing the circular economy model to people’s lives and create widespread public awareness towards environmental protection by establishing and maintaining the habit of segregating waste at home.

According to the Study for Viet Nam: Plastics Circularity Opportunities and Barriers conducted by IFC and the World Bank, Viet Nam’s plastic recycling rate is only 33 per cent. This is mainly due to the fact that plastic waste segregation at source and collection have not been reinforced and consistently implemented.

The public practice remains that people only classify hard and valuable plastics for scraps; other plastics, especially plastic pouches, are lumped together with household wastes, which hinders the recycling process later.

Nguyen Thi Bich Van, chairwoman of Unilever Vietnam, said, “the circular economy model not only helps reduce resource wastage, but also contributes to protecting the environment by preventing plastic waste from polluting landfills and oceans. To implement this model, the first and most fundamental step is segregation at source. Only when plastic waste is properly sorted can we collect the good-quality plastic source for subsequent recycling processes and recycled packaging manufacturing.” 

With more than 35 million products consumed daily by Vietnamese people, Unilever has consistently pioneered driving multiple long-term, comprehensive strategies towards efficiency in plastic waste management.

The partnership with District 7 People’s Committee is expected to greatly contribute to Unilever’s goal to collect and process more plastic than plastic packaging released in the market by 2025. — VNS