Posted on 18 November 2021

Articles 54 and 55 of the LEP 2020 stipulate regulations on the responsibility of manufacturers and importers for recycling, waste collection and treatment of certain products and packaging. To elaborate on provisions of the Law, the Draft Decree detailing a number of articles of the LEP 2020 (draft Decree) has been developed to provide specifications of, inter alia, the subjects, roadmap, and forms of implementing EPR in Viet Nam.

Enterprises in Viet Nam, including SMEs in the plastic sector – which would be subjected to the new regulations on EPR, have been facing certain difficulties in environmental management in general and in implementation of regulations on EPR in particular. One of the reasons is the lack of adequate guidance as well as limited understandingof enterprises about EPR mechanism.

In collaboration with WWF-Viet Nam, through the project "Mitigating marine plastic debris in Viet Nam" and to assist MONRE in development of the draft Decree, ISPONRE conducted a research on SMEs in the plastic industry about their readiness to comply with regulations on EPR. The study evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of SMEs that are manufacturing and importing, using packaging and recycling plastic in the country in the context of the soon-to-be-implemented EPR regulations. Through the survey, problems, inadequacies and recommendations from the perspectives of SMEs in the plastic industry were reflected and shared with relevant governmental agencies. Specific solutions and roadmaps to ensure the readiness of SMEs to participate in EPR have also been proposed, thereby contributing to the development and completion of feasible and practical EPR regulations in the draft Decree.

A workshop was organised by WWF-Viet Nam and ISPONRE on August 12, 2021, to disseminate and discuss research findings with more than 50 representatives from state agencies, businesses, academia and other relevant organisations.