In order to achieve the commitment to net zero carbon emissions and tackle climate change, especially when the whole world is going to the COP26 climate conference, Unilever Vietnam continues to promote its plastic strategy including two pillars: plastic waste collection and sustainable packaging.
Almost all plastic is derived from materials and substances made from fossil fuels. The process of extracting and transporting those fuels, then manufacturing plastic creates billions of tons of greenhouse gases. Besides, it was estimated that Viet Nam discharges more than 1.8 million tons of plastic waste, only 27 per cent of which is recycled, according to a report from MoNRE 2019.
Therefore, the plastic strategy, spearheaded by Unilever Vietnam, including two pillars: plastic waste collection and sustainable packaging, helps solve plastic-related problems, aiming to fulfil the company’s commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2039.
Plastic waste collection
To bring plastic back to serve the economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from plastic production, Unilever Vietnam pioneered in introducing and implementing Circular Economy in Plastic Waste Management including four key actions: waste segregation at source, plastic waste collection and recycling; communication and education to raise people’s awareness; technology and innovation; policy building.
Particularly, waste segregation at source, plastic waste collection and recycling are fundamental to help Unilever achieve its goal of collecting and processing more plastic waste than we sell by 2025.
To achieve this goal, Unilever Vietnam cooperates with VietCycle and Duy Tan to ignite “The Plastic Reborn” programme to segregate waste at source, collect and recycle plastic waste, as well as drive sustainable commitments to improving people’s life quality.
The programme was initially implemented in Ha Noi with three action pillars: collection system building, training – communication, and recycling.
First, the programme builds the collection system through selecting and building on-street collection agencies, large collection stations, freelance waste-picker network in Ha Noi, along with establishing collection groups in each region.
Next, training and communication activities were deployed to the directly relevant people of the programme, who are freelance waste-pickers, waste collection associations, collection stations and scrap dealers. At the same time, the programme promotes mass communication about the benefits of waste segregation at source, plastic waste collection to raise awareness and inspire the community to work together in environmental protection.
Finally, in the recycling action, plastic waste collected by the programme will be used for Unilever’s packaging production. Non-recyclable plastics will be converted to fuel oil.
Freelance waste-pickers, collection associations, collection stations and scrap dealers are the directly relevant people of the programme.
“I take pride in this partnership programme’s double goals towards protecting the environment and driving sustainable development commitments to improve people’s life quality through prioritising female workers, the disadvantaged and disabled, freelance waste-pickers to participate in the value chain, providing them with information on hygienic and safe conditions in the process of plastic waste collection and labour protection equipment, to help improve their health and living conditions and accompany them to recover post Covid-19,” said Mr. Do Thai Vuong, Vice President of Sustainable Development and Communications at Unilever Vietnam.
Mr. Do Thai Vuong takes pride in the programme’s double goals: environment protection and people’s quality of life improvement
Previously, through cooperation with Urenco, Unilever Vietnam has successfully set up two systems of plastic waste segregation at source and collection in Ha Noi, acquiring thousands of tons of waste collected and hundreds of thousands of people reached through communication and training activities.
Unilever Vietnam previously set up two systems of plastic waste segregation at source and collection with Urenco in Ha Noi
Sustainable packaging
Through the commitment “Less plastic, better plastic, no plastic”, Unilever strives to achieve two specific goals in the period from now to 2025:
- 100% of our plastic packaging will be reusable, recyclable or compostable; and
- 50% virgin plastic reduction through absolute reduction and using more recycled plastic – PCR.
Currently, Unilever’s brands are constantly striving to apply technology and innovation to fulfil their goals of packaging recyclability and virgin plastic in production reduction.
Under the commitment of “less plastic”, bottles of Sunlight, Comfort, Love Beauty & Planet products are currently made from 100% recycled PCR plastic.
Besides, it is brands’ encouragement to consumers to buy product bags to refill old empty bottles like Comfort, or Sunlight’s product refill stations to be placed in Ha Noi and HCM City to contribute to reducing the amount of virgin plastic.
Sunlight, Comfort, Love Beauty and Planet recycling squad from Unilever
Product refill stations from Sunlight and other Unilever brands
To use “better plastic”, much more brands at Unilever are researching and renovating product packaging structures for better recyclability while still ensuring the packaging quality.
In the meantime, towards “no plastic”, Unilever has introduced new inventions to the market, such as soap bars, replaceable deodorant sticks and bamboo brushes.
Unilever Vietnam has made a great progress, already 55% virgin plastic reduction; 62% recyclability and 100% bottle already applied with PCR.
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Time: Nov/2021
Source: Vietnamnews
