Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is an approach to environmental policy where the producer’s responsibility extends to include the disposal stage in the product life cycle*.

Although the idea of EPR has been introduced in Law on Environmental Protection since 2005, its impacts have been modest. The fourth generation of Law on Environmental Protection, approved by the National Assembly in November 2020, has had significant changes in which the regulation about EPR is written in article 54 (recycling waste) and article 55 (disposing of waste).

The EPR draft decree applies to 06 product categories: battery, electronic devices, lubricants, tire tubes, vehicles, and packaging.

The EPR draft decree is under consultation with stakeholders. As of August 2021, a series of consultation workshops have been organized. Many opposing perspectives about the draft decree were raised especially by businesses as the EPR rollout would potentially lead to a significant change in the economy operation and social activities, accordingly will have impact on the interest of some business sectors. Therefore, the dissemination of correct and clear information about EPR and its draft decree is essential.

Aiming at providing journalists with updated information about EPR and playing the bridging role to connect to the readers, businesses and producers with accurate and timely information, on the 15-16th June 2021, IUCN collaborated with the Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to hold an online training workshop on EPR. 13 journalists from newspapers, radios and televisions attended the training including Vietnam Television Channel, VOV2, VNExpress, Cong Thuong Newspaper, Tuoi Tre Newspaper, Xay Dung Newspaper, Environment and Natural Resources Newspaper,…

A quick survey before and after the training workshop showed a significant increase in the understanding about EPR from attended journalists: 25% “No knowledge” about EPR before the meeting was decreased to 0% after the training. 25% “Moderate high knowledge” about EPR was increased to 60% after the training. This is a considerable change in the knowledge of journalists towards such a new topic as EPR.

Ms. Lan Phuong, a journalist from VTV1, shared “This is the first training workshop about EPR organized by IUCN, with the attendance of many journalists and editors from the local and central media outlets. This is the beginning of many future media coverages on EPR. The training has also helped journalists to better understand the basic knowledge about EPR, the purpose and its application, stakeholders and operations, etc…”.

All journalists have evaluated that the workshop was good/excellent and satisfied their expectations and wish to participate in future workshops. Some recommendations for improvement included better time management, organizing field trips at recycling facilities, additional multiple-choice quizzes to avoid long boring presentations, and experts should evaluate the understanding level of journalists of self-evaluation.

An important point emphasized in the workshop was that the media needed to be neutral and objective as they are laying the foundation for the public perception of EPR. Finding approaches, angles and methods to write engaging and compelling long-forms were provided by Ms. Tran Le Thuy, MDI Director.

“EPR is a difficult topic. Long-form is also a hard format for journalists. However, the training workshop was very interactive with many quality questions on journalism skills. The workshop has built a network of journalists with a deeper understanding about EPR, playing an important role in reducing plastic waste in Viet Nam,” instructor Tran Le Thuy explained.

It’s planned that after the consultation, the draft EPR decree will be submitted to the government in October 2021. If it is approved, the decree will be legally enforced from the 1st of January, 2022.

This program was implemented as a part of the MARPLASTICCs initiative, sponsored by Sida and the strategic partnership between IUCN and PROVN.

* United Nations/Basel Convention (2019): Revised draft guidelines on Extended Producer Responsibility. Part II. UNEP/CHW.14/5/Add.1. Approved at the fourteenth meeting of Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. 29 April–10 May 2019.

Plastic Alliance – Supermarkets join movement to reduce waste

On 31^st March 2021 in Ha Noi, ISPONRE – one of three cofounders of VB4E – in collaboration with Ha Noi Department of Industry and Trade organized a business consultation to reduce plastic waste in supermarkets. This event drew participation from many big supermarkets, such as AEON, Lotte, Mega Market, An Nam, Big C, and convenient stories such as TH True Mart.

Some good business practices on single use plastic reduction from An Nam and Mega Market were shared. Concerns were also shared from business representatives surrounding alliance sustainability, costs of using environmentally-friendly-material and customer behavior and habits. Further discussions surrounded the need for consistent commitment from businesses, legal frameworks and the role of government to support the participation from businesses.

Representatives of VB4E including the Viet Nam Stature Foundation, Sustainable Development of TH Group and IUCN attended the consultation. In coming time, VSF will work with ISPONRE, IDH, Environmental Economic Association to mobilize the resources from businesses to support supermarkets in the transitional period of converting to eco-friendly products and bags.

This activity is supported by “Rethinking Plastics – Circular Economy solution to marine plastics” with the financial support of EU, Germany Government. France Expertise and GIZ are implementing agencies of the project.

Seeking partnerships to pilot lotus silk production in An Giang Province

On 27-28^th March 2021, IUCN collaborated with ECO-ECO to assess the current status of lotus silk production in the Lang Sen Wetland Reserve. The survey team met with the Khmer Brocade Weaving Cooperative and visited the traditional weaving village of Tinh Bien in An Giang. This activity is part of the project titled: “Piloting flood-based-livelihoods in support of water retention in the Mekong Delta” funded by the Coca-Cola Foundation.

The pilot project will support climate change adaptation, water retention, and lotus yarn production improvements of the flood-based livelihoods for those that reside in proximity to the Mekong Delta. This is one of the concept ideas found in the VB4E concept bank.

In the coming time, through VB4E, we are looking for partnership opportunities with the businesses and partners to jointly implement this project.

For the project brochure, please see: LINK

Initiative to promote commitment on biodiversity conservation (BIODEV2030)

The BIODEV2030 initiative, funded by AFD and Expertise France, aims to implement effective sectoral commitments to halt the decline of biodiversity and its consequences over the next decade.

In Viet Nam, the objective of BIODEV2030 is to promote commitment to a green economy, conduct scientific assessments on biodiversity loss and to identify the economic sectors that are leveraging the most damage to the environment. The initiative will also establish a Voluntary Based Commitment (VBC) for the sectors that are degrading the ecosystems in the country.

WWF are coordinating the initiative in Viet Nam. WWF are also implementing the project in Cameroon, Congo Republic, Gabon, Guyana, Madagascar, Tunisia and Uganda. IUCN will implement the project in the following countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Fiji, Guinea-Conakry, Kenya, Mozambique and Senegal.

IUCN Viet Nam is one of the advisory members and implementation partners of BIODEV2030 in Viet Nam along with the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Agency, MONRE. Over coming time, IUCN through VB4E, will connect and collaborate with businesses to promote the initiative.

For more information about BIODEV2030, please visit: https://www.biodev2030.org/

CEPF release opportunities for small and large grants through IUCN

From January 8th 2021, CEPF’s regional implementation team (RIT) for the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot, IUCN, is releasing a call for letters of inquiry. Eligible countries are Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. These countries have until Friday 5th February to submit their applications for either small grants of up to $40,000 or large grants ranging from $40,000 to $250,000.

To find out more information and to apply, please visit:

https://www.cepf.net/grants/open-calls-for-proposals/2020-indoburma-small-and-large-grants

Download full details here

Businessses Support Water Conservation in Dong Thap Province

On 24-25 Dec 2020, through VB4E, IUCN organized a National Advisory Body (NAB) on Water and Wetland conservation in Dong Thap Province and field visit in Bac Thap Muoi protection forest. The meeting includes around 20 representatives from Dong Thap DARD, Dong Thap DOST, VSF, ISPONRE, technical experts and businesses such as TH Group, La Vie and TCPVN with an aim of setting up the NAB and conducting pre-assessment of project site for potential collaborative projects between IUCN and businesses.  

Both LaVie and TCPVN are interested in collaborating with IUCN to implement projects to reduce salt intrusion and improve water surface in the Mekong Delta provinces. The field trip was made to pre-assess the feasibility of proposed concepts in which the project will support water retention during dry season, reduce salinity through planting Melaleuca and support local livelihoods. In the coming time, IUCN will continue to work with LaVie and TCPVN to finalize the proposals.

Business consultation on coffee transformation and water use in Vietnam’s Central Highlands

On September 10, 2020, IUCN organized a business consultation in Ho Chi Minh City on opportunities to transform coffee production in the Central Highlands to a more diverse and climate resilient crop mix.  The event, which attracted representatives from 15 coffee roasters, retailers, and buyers, was co-funded by two IUCN initiatives: Vietnam Business for Environment (VB4E) (www.vb4e.com) and Building River Dialogue and Governance (BRIDGE) (https://www.iucn.org/theme/water/our-work/current-projects/bridge).

Coffee is Vietnam’s most valuable agricultural export.  Export volumes peaked in 2018 at 30 million bags worth $3.54 billion and the industry supports the livelihoods of over 2 million people, mainly in the Central Highlands.  However, coffee production there is suffering from wasteful irrigation, seasonally declining water tables, more frequent droughts, and declining productivity, which together threaten supply chains at a time when global coffee consumption is growing at 1-3% a year.  During the 2016 drought, hundreds of reservoirs ran dry and over 165,000 hectares of coffee plantation were affected, of which 40,000 hectares were lost.

At the consultation, Dr. Dave Dhaeze presented the results of a study he prepared for IUCN on the costs and benefits of transforming 200,000 hectares of coffee monoculture in Dak Lak Province into a less water consuming coffee, pepper, durian, and avocado crop mix. LINK This would produce 2.5 times the crop value, maintain existing coffee production, and save about 150 million cubic meters of water a year in reduced irrigation.  The total cost is about $300 million over 30 years (equivalent to $60/farmer/year), a trivial amount relative to the economic and environmental benefits.

Participants raised questions about the feasibility and the scale of the transformation.  Questions covered the ability of the market to absorb a large increase in pepper, durian, and avocado, the need to include additional tree crops, whether this approach provides a better model than certification to deliver genuine improvements in environmental sustainability, the need to pilot this approach at a sufficiently large scale such as a district or sub-river basin, and the need for a more detailed study 3-5 year period, which is a more relevant time-period for farmers.

Perhaps the greatest challenge is that it would take farmers 10 years to breakeven (i.e., NPV > 0).  Covering this income gap would require active government participation.  The next steps, therefore, is a government consultation in Hanoi.