The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Natural Resources and Environment has said it will propose that the municipal administration ask departments, agencies, and districts to intensify their inspection and supervision of the payment of taxes related to single-use plastic products and hard-to-decompose plastic bags.

Of the 9,000 metric tons of garbage discharged per day in the city, 1,800 metric tons is plastic waste. However, only 200 metric tons of the plastic waste is recycled.

Garbage released from traditional wet markets accounts for up to 60 percent of the city’s hard-to-decompose plastic waste.

Nguyen Nguyen Phuong, deputy director of the municipal Department of Industry and Trade, said the department had set a target that at least half of the plastic bags used at the city’s wet markets would be eco-friendly by the end of 2022, with that number rising to 65 percent by the end of 2023.

Despite their efforts, that number currently sits at a meager 17 percent. 

The department said it will work with relevant agencies to identify the cause of the failure and seek out solutions, Phuong added.

The proportion of businesses using hard-to-decompose plastic bags remains high because such bags are cheap and easy to buy, according to Le Quang Thien, head of the management board of Tan Dinh Market in District 1.

They are priced at just VND25,000-30,000 (US$1-1.2) per kilogram although the environmental protection tax rate on plastic bags is VND50,000 ($2) per kilogram.

Meanwhile, the prices of environmentally-friendly plastic bags hit VND50,000-60,000 ($2-2.5) per kilogram, so producers of such products are finding it difficult to expand their market share, Thien noted.

Discussing the issue, Giang Van Hien, deputy head of the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department, said households and individuals producing or purchasing plastic bags to package products manufactured or processed by themselves are not subject to plastic bag taxes and, as a result, the adoption of eco-friendly bags has been slow.

In 2006, Ho Chi Minh City established a waste recycling fund, now known as the 'environmental protection fund,' to support waste collection and recycling.

Districts have also been piloting models to reduce the use of plastic bags since 2013, said Nguyen Thi Thanh My, deputy director of the municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

In 2014, the city issued a directive on enhancing the management and use of plastic bags in a bid to reduce 85 percent of single-use plastic products by 2025.

Ho Chi Minh City has also been focusing on introducing a circular economy and sponsoring initiatives aimed at improving local residents’ awareness of the negative impact of waste.

However, waste recycling costs are high so the city has been finding it hard to attract investment in waste recycling projects, My added.

The 2020 Law on Environmental Protection includes regulations on the responsibility of plastic bag producers and importers for collecting and recycling plastic waste with certain ratios.

In particular, they can recycle plastic waste themselves or contribute to the Vietnam Environment Protection Fund, My noted.

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