Vietnam province restricts single-use plastic in government offices
Government workers in Thua Thien-Hue Province have been told not to use plastic water bottles or plastic bags at the workplace.
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A woman sorts through recyclable plastic soft drink bottles in Xa Cau Village outside Hanoi. Photo by Reuters/Kham
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On Saturday the chairman of the province People's Committee, Phan Ngoc Tho, issued a memo urging all employees in the province to help address the plastic waste problem and prevent pollution, reports said.
Government offices and agencies are required not to use disposable bottles, including at conferences, and instead use bottles of more than 20 liters that are easier to recycle. Disposable plastic bags and one-time wipes are also discouraged.
The province Department of Finance is not allowed to pay for buying disposable plastic products.
This is part of the "anti-plastic waste" and "say no to disposable plastic bags" movements in which Thua Thien-Hue authorities want to involve public workers.
The province, home to the former imperial citadel Hue which is a major tourist destination, plans to organize competitions to unearth plastic substitutes.
It wants supermarkets, malls and restaurants to replace disposable plastic with eco-friendly materials by 2020.
It has seven landfills that get on average a total of 450 to 700 tons of solid waste daily.
Anti-plastic movement is gathering momentum in Vietnam. Last month the HCMC Open University announced a ban on plastic straws and bottled water from May. Teachers and students have to bring their own bottles or use recyclable bottles the university provides.
Supermarket chain Saigon Co.op has stopped selling plastic straws from this month. Some supermarket chains have begun to use banana leaves to pack vegetables instead of plastic.
The country generates around 2,500 tons of plastic waste daily, according to official figures. It is fourth in the list of nations dumping plastic waste in the ocean, according to the United Nations Environment Program.
