HCM CITY — Nine leading companies in the consumer goods and packaging industries joined hands to launch the coalition Packaging Recycling Organization Vietnam in HCM City on June 21.

PRO Vietnam seeks to help create to a clean, green and beautiful country by driving the circular economy and making recycling of packaging more accessible and sustainable.

The coalition marks the first time that competing businesses are collaborating in Việt Nam to collectively work on improving the environment.

The nine include Coca-Cola, FrieslandCampina, La Vie, Nestlé, NutiFood, Suntory PepsiCo, Tetra Pak, TH Group, and URC.

PRO Vietnam will work towards its ambition through four pillars of activities: educating consumers on recycling awareness and segregation, strengthening the existing packaging collection eco-system, supporting recycling programmes of processors and recyclers, and working with the Government in the “Recycle” aspect of 3Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle).

Through its voluntary public-private partnership it aims to improve livelihoods and create jobs for individuals and businesses working on post-consumer packaging.

It will also coordinate with research institutions to find the most suitable solutions for the environment.

Phạm Phú Ngọc Trai, the first chairman of PRO Vietnam, said the founding members of PRO Vietnam are united in their mission.

“PRO Vietnam’s ambition is that by 2030 all packaging materials put into the market by its members is collected for recycling.”

Urban solid waste is forecast to increase by 38 per cent from 11.6 million tonnes in 2016 to 15.9 million tonnes in 2030, according to the World Bank.

Việt Nam is one of the five largest contributors of plastic waste in the ocean, its share being 280,000 tonnes a year.

Trade data shows that the country was until recently heavily reliant on imports of scrap plastic and paper as feedstock for its recycling industries.

With the growth in waste generation, this challenge of packaging waste is likely to worsen without concerted public-private intervention.

Thus the need to support a packaging collection and recycling eco-system which can increase recycling rates and reduce packaging leakage has become imperative. — VNS