Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) The proposal was included in the draft report by the Ministry of Justice aboutthe law-making programme of the 15th National Assembly.
Accordingly, besides plastic bags which were already subject to theenvironmental protection tax, styrofoam boxes used for packaging food would beadded as subject to this tax under the common name of “non-biodegradablepackaging materials”.
The tax rate would also be increased to be equivalent to the rates of countriesaround the world, aiming to limit the use of plastic bags and styrofoam boxes.
The ministry pointed out that many countries in the world imposed highenvironmental protection tax on plastic bags and even banned the production,sale and use of plastic bags.
Vietnam was one of the countries using the most plastic bags, with an averageof 1kg per month per household, according to the ministry.
In two major cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, about 80 million tonnes ofplastic products and plastic bags were dumped into the environment every day,most of which are non-biodegradable.
Like other countries, Vietnam used environmental protection tax as one of themost important tools to reduce the use of plastic bags with a rate of 50,000 VNDper kg, which remained low compared to other countries.
In addition, the collection of environmental protection tax on plastic bagsremained modest.
With such huge consumption of plastic bags, Vietnam should have been collectingdozens of trillions of đồng in environmental protection tax on plastic bags butin fact, the country could collect only around 70 billion VND per year – thiswas too small to change the production and consumption habits towards thisproduct.
“Expanding tax base and increasing environmental protection tax are necessaryto prevent white pollution,” the ministry said, adding that the increase mustbe put into careful consideration.
According to Tran Hong Tinh from the Hanoi Bar Association, policymakers shouldconsider imposing a tax based on the number of plastic bags and boxes ratherthan on volume.
This would prevent the production and use of thin plastic bags.
“As costs rise, retailers are forced to seriously consider how many free bagsthey give out to their customers or ask consumers to share the cost. Only inthis way, can we hope to change the habit of using plastic bags and boxes whichis causing serious environmental impacts,” Tinh said.
According to a study by the University of Science, Viertnam NationalUniversity, Hanoi, around 2.5 million tonnes of plastics and plastic bags werediscarded in Vietnam in 2020, most of which were styrofoam boxes, plastic bagsand straws. Notably, only 10% was recycled and reused.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a spike in plastic waste in recent years alongwith the boom of e-commerce and food delivery services.
Nguyen Huy Nga, Director of the Centre for Health Environment Research andDevelopment, said that to reduce plastic waste and pollution, each person mustbe conscious of not using single-use plastic products.
Kim Thuy Ngoc from the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resourcesand Environment, said that raising taxes on plastic bags and single-use plasticproducts should be put into consideration to reduce consumption, increaseawareness of consumers and change the habit of using plastic bags.
Under the project of enhancing management of plastic waste in Vietnam, thyecountry targeted to use 100% environmentally-friendly bags at supermarkets andshopping centres to replace non-biodegradable bags by 2025.
Decree No 08/ND-CP detailing some points of the Law on Environment Protectionregulated that Vietnam would not use and import non-biodegradable bags withdimensions of below 50cm and 50cm and thickness of below 50 microns from 2026.Shopping centres, supermarkets, hotels and tourism areas would not use single-useplastic products and plastic bags and styrofoam boxes.
The country would stop the production and use of single-use plastic productsand non-biodegradable packaging from 2030./.
VNA