Both the market and the policy are too much detrimental to the self-destructive packaging.
It took 400 years to completely decompose a normal plastic bag in natural conditions. HCMC consumes more than 70 tons of plastic bags every day.
Obviously, environmental pollution from plastic bags is a real danger. However, businesses that produce eco-friendly plastic bags are having difficulty selling their products in Vietnam.
Cancellation: Good but expensive
Price is the barrier that this type of "green" packaging is not widely used. Specifically, the cost of producing plastic bags is always higher than about 30% compared to conventional plastic bags. The reason is that the product is largely dependent on foreign supplies, from technology machinery to additives.
On the other hand, because plastic bags are usually durable and cheap price, even free, so many consumers still do not want or are not ready to switch to higher price self-destruct.
State sanctions are not enough to force the packaging business to convert completely into environmentally friendly products. At present, many plastic bag manufacturers use recycled materials to increase the price gap compared to self-destruction packaging.
Remarkably, according to the current Environmental Tax Law, plastic bags are taxed up to 150% without distinction between conventional and self-destructible packaging. This makes the production of "green" products more difficult.
At present, only those enterprises which are granted environmental certification by the management agencies are exempted from environmental protection tax. But only a few units get that certification
According to a government project, by 2020, Vietnam will reduce 65% of the amount of disposable plastic bags used in supermarkets and trade centers compared to 2010, reducing the volume of plastic bags by 50%. It is difficult to decompose and use in the local markets, to collect and reuse 50% of the total amount of disposable plastic bags in daily life.
Many experts said that the scheme would be difficult to implement without policies to encourage the production and use of self destructive packaging.
According to Vafaco Packaging Company, their self-destructive products distributed to the retail market is very limited. Part of the price difference. But the most important issue is consumer awareness.
Ngo Nguyen Ngoc Thanh - Deputy Director of Waste Recycling Fund in HCM City said that in recent years, this unit has developed many campaigns to promote the use of products that are beneficial for the environment and reduce the use. nylon bag However, the effect is still difficult to achieve as desired.
"There are a lot of plastic bags that are not registered yet. Or rather, tax evasion so the price of products left to small traders, retailers are very low. Consequently, environmentally friendly products compete very hard, "she said.
Live by foreign countries
It can be said that environmentally friendly plastic bags are almost "deadly" in the domestic market. In Ho Chi Minh City, the number of enterprises involved in producing this product is only counted on the fingers. And only one unit can be sold into the supermarket system. The rest have to find the way to export plastic bags of self destruct to overseas.
For example, Alta Tan Binh, although it has improved its technology to reduce the price of its packaging, is only 5-10% higher than normal packaging, but its market is mainly exported. , accounting for about 80%.
Similarly, the products made from corn meal of Tien Thanh Company are present in the US, Japan, Taiwan, France ... And consumption in Vietnam market is still low because the price is quite high. .
Why foreign market "pull goods" self destructible packaging of Vietnam? Ignore the habit and consciousness of consumers, the biggest reason is that the packaging destroyed by the export is not subject to 150% tax as in Vietnam. Therefore, the product is competitive with foreign competitors.
In addition, Vietnamese enterprises prefer to export because the domestic market still does not distinguish between self-destruction and plastic bags, both in terms of tax policies and the views of environmental experts. This fact leads to the fact that the standard for enterprises to be certified to meet environmental standards in Vietnam is higher than that of foreign ones.
When both the market and the policy are so much detrimental to the self-destructive packaging, the viability of this product is just "exogenous" to survive and "wait" in the domestic market.