The path to recycling plastic industry

It is forecasted that by 2023, the volume of plastic materials needed for production in Vietnam will be about 10 million tons. The amount of plastic scrap imported for mixing up to three million tons per year, excluding the import to produce recycled plastics for export. Therefore, the import and use of scrap plastic as a raw material for production is a strategic direction, accompanied by strict control of the standards of water and gas pollution.

Plastic industry is considered one of the most dynamic and fastest growing industries in Vietnam. In the past 10 years, the growth rate of this industry has always been about 15-20%, but it has to import up to 80% of raw materials. At present, the domestic factories produce 780,000 tons of plastic materials each year. Among them, Binh Son Petrochemical Refinery (150,000 tons of PP), AGC Chemicals (200,000 tons of PVC), Plastics and Chemicals of TPC Vina (190,000 tons) ... In the last five years, the average was 13.5% in volume and 16% in value. In 2017, Vietnam imported 4.9 million tons of plastic resin, total import value of plastic resins and plastic products reached nearly 12.7 billion USD, export turnover of 2.5 billion USD, turnover of nearly 15 billion USD.

Vietnam Plastics Association (VPA) analyzed the demand for raw materials of the whole industry for many years, especially in the last 5 years, with the annual growth rate of 10%, to 2023, the plastic industry needs about 10 million tons of plastic for production and export. According to the Petrochemical Master Plans and Projects, the domestic production of domestically made plastics is expected to reach 2.6 million tons, fulfilling 26% while the remaining 7.4 million tons will be imported from foreign. In spite of efforts to call for investment in raw material factory, the current capacity are not able to meet demand. Therefore, the solution is effective and suitable current consumption of products is partially offset by recycled plastic materials.

Towards sustainable development

Utilizing recycled plastics from imports for re-production and production, extending the lifecycle of plastics to economic efficiency is always targeted at countries, even in leading economic sectors such as USA and EU. The price of finished plastic material recycled after imported for recycling is always lower than plastic resin about 30%, even 40%. In the cost structure of most plastic products, the cost of raw materials accounts for 60-70%, if the cost of raw materials is reduced, the cost of products will decrease accordingly.

When Vietnam participates in bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements (FTAs), Vietnamese plastic enterprises only take advantage of the percentage of tariffs on products of non-FTA countries. . In the last two years, Vietnam imported and consumed massively plastics from Thailand and Malaysia and Indonesia. Being passive in terms of raw materials, resulting in lack of initiative on raw material prices has been a great obstacle, now it is not possible to use recycled plastic materials but still have to ensure the quality of products due to the "barrier" to limit the breakthrough of domestic plastic enterprises.

In the long run, when losing its competitive edge, the plastic industry will lose market share on the "home", many big plastic brands will be acquired through M & A deals such as Binh Minh, Tin Thanh, Tan Tien ... Our average profit is still low, depending on the time of raw material imports lasts about two months, subject to great risks in terms of exchange rates and fluctuations in oil prices. If Vietnamese enterprises take the initiative in replacing recycled plastic materials in the country, they will reduce costs, increase profits and reinvest in research and development of high-tech plastic products. In addition to the companies that are manufacturing plastic products, there are also domestic companies producing polyester fiber, PP for the textile and garment industry, contributing nearly $ 4 billion in fiber export in 2017.

Therefore, to develop an advanced recycling industry for the plastics industry on the basis of not compromising the environment for the sake of economic benefits. Management agencies should coordinate VPA to quickly develop a set of emission standards at the end of the scrap recycling process at two major standards, water and gas. Adopt a plan to control electricity prices - the level of electricity production is the State price priority, not to generate or expand the scale of recycling in the village to limit the risk of environmental pollution. At the same time, the government has put in place a policy of encouraging and prioritizing the licensing of units and projects using state-of-the-art technology so that technology transfer and technology know-how are truly shared the development in plastics industry.

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Source: vpas.vn