Hanoi (VNA) ♉– The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) has called on other ministries, agencies and localities to organise activities to clean up the environment and fight plastic waste in response to World Environment Day (June 5), World Oceans Day (June 8) and Vietnam Sea and Island Week.

According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the World Environment Day, after it was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972. Over the past five decades, with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) at the helm, the day has grown to be one of the largest global platforms for environmental outreach. Tens of millions of people participate online and through in-person activities, events and actions around the world in response to the day. The 2023 campaign #BeatPlasticPollution will focus on solutions to plastic pollution. It highlights regional and international policies, technologies and innovations that provide real, lasting solutions to this global problem – especially those that promote a just transition to a plastic circular economy. UNEP said humanity produces over 430 million tonnes of plastic annually, two-thirds of which are short-lived products that soon become waste. The social and economic costs of plastic pollution are estimated to range between 300 billion USD to 600 billion USD per year. According to a recent UNEP report, Turning off the Tap, plastic pollution could reduce by 80% by 2040 if countries and companies make deep policy and market shifts using existing technologies. Over the past years, Vietnam has been implementing various mechanisms, strategies, policies, and initiatives to reduce plastic waste and protect the environment. A notable example is the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection, which supplements provisions on reducing, reusing, recycling, and managing plastic waste. The law also restricts the use of single-use plastic products and non-biodegradable nylon bags, while promoting the production of environmentally friendly alternatives. In a document sent to the ministries, agencies and localities on May 19, the MoNRE asked them to carry out communications activities and enforce the law and other relevant legal regulations. They were also urged to devise and issue regulations, mechanisms and incentives targeting producers of environmentally friendly products and recycling companies, and step up research studies and technological transfer in plastic recycling. Localities should push ahead with infrastructure development, plastic waste collection and recycling, and domestic waste collection, sorting and treatment, the ministry said, suggesting them multiply effective models on a larger scale. Each city and province should have at least one model of plastic pollution prevention and control, it stressed. The MoNRE also suggested specific activities in response to World Environment Day, World Oceans Day and Vietnam Sea and Island Week such as hanging banners, posters, and billboards, and organising workshops, conferences, seminars and forums. Localities need to intensify monitoring over waste collection, transportation and treatment along beaches and on islands, encourage research studies on seas and islands, and environmentally friendly production and business activities, and launch movements on environmental cleanup and plastic waste collection, the ministry added.

Under the national plan on ocean plastic waste management to 2030, the government has set a goal to reduce 50% of plastic waste; collect 50% of lost or throw-away fishing tools and 80% of resorts, tourist attractions, and tourist accommodation establishments along the coast do not use single-use plastic products and non-biodegradable plastic bags.

ܫ Vietnam aims to reduce the flow of plastics into the ocean by 75% by 2030, completely eliminating single-use plastic and non-biodegradable plastic bags from coastal tourist destinations, and ensuring that marine protected areas are free of plastic waste by 2030./.