Positive changes
Currently, Hanoi has 24 shopping malls, 140 supermarkets, 454 markets and thousands of convenient shops and food stores. Most of them use non-decomposable plastic bags to meet consumers’ shopping demands, thus, plastic products are in common use in spite of their negative impacts to the living environment and public health.
In realizing guiding document of the Municipal People’s Committee, the Department of Industry and Trade has rolled out a range of activities to curb plastic waste pollution.
Accordingly, the department launched many communication campaigns to call on manufacturing and distribution enterprises to join hands to reduce plastic waste generation from production to consumption, and produce and use environmentally friendly products, making significant contributions to protecting environment and public health.
Furthermore, the department encouraged industrial manufacturers and distributors to sign commitments to combat plastic waste in production and consumer distribution. So far, more than 200 businesses, restaurants and hotels, markets have joined the effort.
Besides, the department introduced self-destructive biological bags, and environmentally friendly products to replace non-decomposable plastic bags and disposable plastic products while encouraging the use of banana leaves, paper bags instead of plastic bags.
According to Le Hong Thang, Director of the Department of Industry and Trade, several businesses have taken action to combat plastic trash, namely Vinmart, BigC, MM Mega Market, Lotte, Co.opMart. They have used biodegradable bags or banana leaves, paper bags to wrap vegetables and meat so as to reduce the use of plastic bags and single use plastic products.
Raising awareness on plastic waste combat
However, people are still not aware of negative impacts of plastic trash in addition to their habit of using plastic products. Besides, there are so many difficulties and challenges in carrying out programs on combating plastic waste.
Director of the Department of Industry and Trade, Le Hong Thang urged each Party member and official to take the lead in taking drastic measures to deal with plastic trash.
In the time to come, the Department of Industry and Trade will carry out communication campaigns among businesses in industrial production and consumer distribution to raise people’s awareness on fighting plastic waste in Hanoi.
Enterprises are encouraged to implement their commitments to combat plastic waste while carrying out the roadmap on producing and trading environmentally friendly products as guided by the Prime Minister and the Hanoi People’s Committee. By 2025, enterprises will not produce non-decomposable plastic bags and disposable plastic products.
Additionally, the department will tighten the cooperation with units to call on local enterprises join the fight against plastic waste in production and trade in an effort to protect environment.
Moreover, the department will continue elaborating, proposing mechanisms and policies to support the consumption of environmentally friendly bags; facilitating infrastructure development, collection and recycle of plastic products; studying the transferring of advanced technologies in recycling non-decomposable plastic waste; among others.
