Hanoi, December 17, 2021, the ceremony of Plastic and Health Action Partnership (PHA) is launched in Hanoi with the participation of over 100 representatives from the government, international organizations, NGOs, universities, research institutes and businesses. The launching ceremony of PHA is one of the initiatives and actions plan of the Local Solution for Plastic Pollution (LSPP) Project sponsored by the United States Agency for Internatinal Development (USAID), Center for Supporting Green Development (GreenHub) co-operating with three other partners (ISPONRE, VOHUN, Gimasys).
In Vietnam, it is estimated that among 25 million tons of annually domestic solid waste 10-20 percent of them is plastic products (approximately 2.5 to 5 million tons of plastic waste every year). The fact is that the percentage of plastic waste and single-use nylon bags in Vietnam's urban areas has rapidly increased. Specifically, in Hanoi, the proportion of plastic waste accounts for nearly 12-18 percent, of which only films and plastic bags account for 10-15 percent. Consuming single-use plastic while segregation at source system is not in place yet has been causing a huge impact to the environment and human health.
The founding members of Plastic and Health Action Partnership include ISPONRE, National Plastics Action Partnership Program (NPAP), Vietnam Zero Waste Alliance (VZWA), Vietnam One Health University Network (VOHUN), GreenHub and other NGOs, Dow Vietnam and other enterprises that have strong commitments to keep plastics waste out of the environment with the mission of promoting networks connection, conducting initiatives on plastic and health, mobilizing technical and financial resources, sharing the experiences and best practices, advocating policy related plastic waste and health and contributing to enhancing the effectiveness of plastic waste initiatives.
Mr. Nguyễn Trung Thắng – Deputy Director of Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment under Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said, “Tackling plastic pollution issue requires joint efforts of many stakeholders such as the government bodies, international organizations, NGOs, research institutes, universities and especially business community. The establishment of Plastic and Health Action Partnership would be a great opportunity to mobilize the participation of all related stakeholders to mitigate the effects of plastic pollution to human health.”
Ms. Christine Gandomi - Acting Director Office of Environment and Energy, USAID shared, “We believe that the establishment of Plastic and Health Action Partnership would open opportunities for new collaboration, knowledge exchange and sharing best practices to address plastics pollution challenges. Plastic and Health Action Partnership will become one of the first forums focusing on plastic waste and its effects on human health. These dialogues will help us together tackle the most challenging issue in Vietnam.”
“We are very proud to be one of the founding members of Plastic and Health Action Partnership to synergize partners’ efforts for joint actions to tackle plastic waste issue in Vietnam,” said Mr. Ekkasit Lakkananithiphan, President of Dow Vietnam. “As a materials science company and solutions provider, Dow is currently collaborating with our partners to innovate new products, explore recycling technologies and develop new end markets for recycled plastics to help keep plastics out of the environment.”
At the panel discussion on plastic and health, members of the Plastic and Health Action Partnership shared their opinions on waste management policies in Vietnam, enhancing the public awareness about plastic waste and health knowledge, some best practices of plastics circular economy models implementing in Vietnam and emphasized the need to jointly collaborate to tackle plastic waste issue.
So far, 18 organizations have joined the Plastic and Health Action Partnership. For the time being, this Partnership will support ministries, agencies and local governments to carry out policy advocacy activities related to plastic waste and health, build and operate a database portal, conduct communication campaigns, raise awareness about the plastic waste and health and implement pilot models to mitigate plastic pollution effects in some local provinces of Vietnam.