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Vietnam is facing many risks from plastic waste. According to statistics from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, each year in Vietnam, about 1.8 million tons of plastic waste are discharged into the environment, of which 0.28 million to 0.73 million tons are discharged into the sea - but only 27% of it is recycled and utilized by facilities and businesses.

Of which, every day large cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City discharge about 80 tons of plastic waste into the environment, but a very small proportion of plastic packaging products are recycled, which greatly affects the environment and is a significant waste for the economy. Among the waste discharged, packaging is one of the most discharged industrial and domestic wastes today.

Faced with the current situation of environmental pollution due to increasing plastic waste, consumers tend to use green packaging instead to ensure health and improve the living environment.

Green packaging is packaging made from natural, environmentally friendly materials that can be easily destroyed in a short time. These are products that do not harm human health and do not leave serious consequences for the living environment. The product serves the purpose of packaging, preserving food, and carrying it to serve consumers.

The trend of promoting green consumption around the world has changed the thinking of production, distribution and trade. The value of a product is not only good quality, diverse designs, reasonable prices but also environmentally friendly. Therefore, the trend of using green packaging has become a global trend.

In many developed countries around the world, consumers have even begun to put pressure on manufacturers and brands that do not follow a more sustainable approach to product packaging when plastic waste has become the second largest environmental problem after climate change.

According to environmental experts, we are living in an environment polluted from water sources, land sources to air. If we continue with the old habit of using nylon packaging and plastic bottles, the environmental situation will become critical, seriously affecting human security and life. Therefore, right now is the time for each of us to raise awareness, seriously implement the trend of using green packaging to limit the increasing amount of hard-to-decompose plastic waste.

In Vietnam, with the goal of creating more added value for products, enhancing the position of businesses in terms of environmental protection, reducing emissions and increasing social prestige, many businesses have now built packaging strategies that are suitable for customer needs such as using packaging made of reusable materials or packaging, organizing optimal packaging rotation.

For example, to develop green logistics, businesses are encouraged to use packaging made from recycled materials or materials that are easily decomposable in the natural environment. For example, Nam Ha Noi cold storage has green logistics control processes right from the packaging stage of goods such as using wrapping films made from the simplest packaging materials that can decompose in nature.

In addition, there are also businesses that use pallets (wood, plastic, ...) to place products instead of using packaging that takes up warehouse space and affects the level of greening. With the feature of reuse, this tool is especially effective in distributing and transporting goods, ensuring the safety of goods as well as limiting the excessive use of packaging, product lining paper that creates environmental waste.

According to the survey results, a positive signal in packaging activities is that the proportion of environmentally friendly packaging such as paper and cardboard packaging has been used by 42.9% of businesses, 1.2% of businesses use wooden packaging. Less environmentally friendly packaging than foam, nylon, and recycled plastic are used by 12.5%, 11.9%, and 11.3% of surveyed businesses, respectively.

Vietnam is aiming to use 100% environmentally friendly packaging by 2025. This will be very promising when the State, businesses, and the community join hands. However, in order for this goal to become a reality, in the coming time, it is necessary to issue policies regulating green packaging and green waste for manufacturing and warehouse businesses.