As part of a series of cooperative activities with the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) and the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), on September 10, 2021, the Vietnam Administration of Seas and Islands (VASI) organized the workshop on “Plastic waste and the circular economy”.

The workshop was held online with the participation of more than 80 delegates from ministries, departments, units under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, People’s Committees of provinces, international organizations and experts. The purpose of the workshop was to share international experiences in efforts to build a circular economy, one of the important tools to reduce ocean plastic waste.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hong Quan, Director of Institute for Circular Economy, Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City was the guest speaker and presented a presentation on: “Roadmap for plastic circular economy in Vietnam” on behalf of ICED team. The proposed roadmap for Vietnam includes a number of priorities including: 1) Identify a list of problematic and unnecessary plastic packaging is created alongside a plan for how to eliminate those items; 2) Institutionalize Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes for plastic packaging to help fund investments in recycling infrastructure; 3) Invent, innovate, and encourage alternative uses of difficult-to-recycle plastic waste; 4) Increase quality and quantity of supply of recyclable plastic scrap.

Experts in the workshop include: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dinh Tho, Director of Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE), MONRE; Dr. Trinh Thai Ha, Director of the National Plastics Action Partnership Program (NPAP); Dr. Hoang Thanh Vinh, UNDP Viet Nam Program Officer; Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Son, Deputy Director, Department of Natural Resources Control and Environmental Protection of Sea and Islands, VASI; Ms. Deborah Robertson, Environmental Specialist, Asian Development Bank (ADB); Ms. Valentina Tartiu, Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA).

The conference was a great success and this conference once again affirmed that we needed to work together to succeed in protecting the blue, clean and beautiful ocean.