Speaking at the ceremony, Vice President of the VPSU Phan Phuong Hanh said the campaign aims to respond to the Prime Minister's call to collectively join hands to build a healthy and safe environment and contribute to solving the environmental pollution caused by plastic waste.
The VPSU will devise measures to enhance information dissemination and diversification of communication forms in order to raise awareness about the risk of plastic waste pollution; as well as mobilise union members, civil servants and employees to change their behaviours and habits when using plastic, especially single use plastic products and disposable plastic bags, contributing to reducing environmental pollution, she noted.
Vietnam discharges about 1.8 million tonnes of plastic every year, standing 17th among 109 countries in terms of the plastic waste volume released.
Of that amount, some 730,000 tonnes are released into the oceans, accounting for some 6 percent of the world’s plastic volume dumped at sea. That has made the country the fourth biggest polluter of ocean plastic waste.
The country aims to reduce the volume of non-biodegradable plastic bags used at supermarkets and shopping malls by 65% by 2020 compare to 2010. By 2026, it targets to use zero non-biodegradable plastic bags.
