PLASTIC PRODUCTS CONSUMPTION TREND AND PLASTIC WASTE IN ASIA, PRACTICAL INFORMATION AND CONTACT TO VIETNAM

PLASTIC PRODUCTS CONSUMPTION TREND AND PLASTIC WASTE IN ASIA, PRACTICAL INFORMATION AND CONTACT TO VIETNAM... PLASTIC PRODUCTS CONSUMPTION TREND AND PLASTIC WASTE IN ASIA, PRACTICAL INFO

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY

MASTER THESIS

PLASTIC PRODUCTS CONSUMPTION TREND AND PLASTIC WASTE IN ASIA, PRACTICAL INFORMATION AND CONTACT TO VIETNAM

MAJOR: INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS

NGO THI DIEU LINH

Ha Noi – 2020

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY

MASTER THESIS

PLASTIC PRODUCTS CONSUMPTION TREND AND PLASTIC WASTE IN ASIA, PRACTICAL INFORMATION AND CONTACT TO VIETNAM

Full Name: Ngo Thi Dieu Linh

SUPERVISOR: Dr Mai Nguyen Ngoc

Ha Noi - 2020

i

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the dissertation is my own research It was written with thethorough guidance of my supervisor - Dr Mai Nguyen Ngoc

……

Hanoi - 2020

Author

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The dissertation has been completed with the great guidance of Dr Mai NguyenNgoc I would like to express my sincere thanks for her patience and massive help withreading the whole of the thesis and making valuable comments for my research

By this occasion, I am much grateful to the Department of Graduate Studies andForeign Trade University - who have always create most favorable conditions forMORIE 2 students in completing our study Thank you so much for their generosityand I owe a debt of gratitude to all helpers.

iii

TABLE CONTENTS

DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii TABLE CONTENTS iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS v LIST OF FIGURES vi INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1: PLASTICS CONSUMPTION TREND AND PLASTIC WASTE PROBLEM IN ASIA 22

1.1 Overview of plastic sector .22 1.2 Plastics product consumption 26 1.3 Plastic product consumption trend in Asia 27

1.3.1 Overview of plastic product consumption trend and main applications in Asia 27 1.3.2 Increasing demand for eco friendly plastic product trend 31

1.4 Plastic waste disposal process in Asia 32 1.5 Plastic waste problem in Asia 34 1.6 Experience of companies in Asia on solving plastic waste problem 43

1.6.1 Issue internal environment policies 43 1.6.2 Classified waste and develop recyclable products 44 1.6.3 Taking advantage of plastic waste to produce other materials 46 1.6.4 Use alternative materials 46

2.1 Plastic product consumption trend in Vietnam 48

2.1.1 Overview of Plastic product consumption trend in Vietnam 48 2.1.2 Main application plastic productsin Vietnam .53 2.1.3 Increasing demand for eco friendly plastic product trend in Vietnam 56

2.2 Plastic waste disposal process in Vietnam 56 2.3 Plastic waste problem in Vietnam 59 2.4 Comparison between plastic waste problem of Asia and Vietnam 61 2.5 Forecast of plastic consumption in Vietnam until 2022 61

iv

CHAPTER 3: RECOMMENDATION FOR PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT

IN ASIA AND CONTACT TO VIETNAM 64 3.1 Proposing to Asia

to solve plastic waste problem 64 3.2 Proposing to Vietnam

to solve plastic waste problem 64 3.2.1 Solutions have been

implemented to reduce plastic waste problem 64 3.2.2 Proposing to the

government to solve plastic waste problem 68 3.2.3 Proposing to

organizations and companies operating in the plastic industry

v

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

No Acronym Explanation

13

14

vi

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Types of plastic 6figure 2 Plastics life cycle .22figure 3 Annualplastic comsumption per capita (kg) 28figure 4 Plastic consumption (per capita) is positively correlated with gdp growth

rates .29figure 5 Compare traditional and modern plastic waste processing methods 33figure 6 Common plastic waste processing: recycling 33Figure 7 Share of plastic waste that is inadequately managed 35Figure 8 Global Mismanaged plastic by region 36Figure 9 The River of Plastics in Cambodia (NIkkei, 2018) 39Figure 10 The man with massive piles of plastic in Munbai, India 41Figure 11 Plastic consumption per capita (kg/person/Year) 51Figure 12 Comsumption of Vietnam plastic market (Billion Ton) 53Figure 13 Chain of plastic waste in Vietnam 58

1

INTRODUCTION

Research context and reasons to choose topics

Over the past 50 years, plastic has undergone significant changes as a material, andits use has become ubiquitous in our modern society (Ryan, 2015) Innovations in theplastics industry have resulted in low-cost, durable and multi-purpose plastics; Thereare countless applications of their end use They range from medical and agriculturalequipment to construction materials and food packaging Since the 1950s, plastic hasbeen produced at a faster rate than most other materials, and in 2015 alone, about 141million tons of plastic waste was produced, including plastic waste from products andpackaging (UN Enviroment, 2018) The high use of plastic products and poormanagement of “scrap” have made plastic the main source of marine pollutionworldwide Once the plastic particles enter the marine environment, the wind andcurrents will spread to the other side of the ocean (UN Enviroment, 2019) Marineplastic pollution (MPP) is a shocking issue given its large and complex size, and theincreasing consumption of plastic in both developed and developing countries, has ageneral negative impact on ecosystems and human health

The MPP has received more attention in recent years High-profile statements such

as the Gy Leaders' Statement 2018 put the issue of marine plastic pollution in thelimelight and helped to put this issue on the international agenda (G7, 2018)

German scientists (Schmidt; Krauth, Wagner, 2017) have studied and pointed outthat eight rivers in Asia are among the top ten sources of marine plastic pollution in theworld Another study found that four rivers in Indonesia are among the 20 mostpolluted in the world in terms of tons of poorly managed plastic waste (NaturealComunications, 2017) Of the 4.4 million to 12.7 million tons of terrestrial plastic wastethat eventually flows into the ocean, 83% come from 20 countries (Lohr, Savelli,Beunen, Kalz, Lagos, Belleghem, 2017) Among these countries, China, Indonesia, thePhilippines, Vietnam and Sri Lanka are the five with the most serious plastic pollution.There are many sources of marine waste, from commercial and recreational vessels toonshore sources such as street waste and manufacturing waste

2

(Haward, 2018) All of this shows that it is important to research what measures need

to be taken to address the MPP problem in Asia

In our country (Vietnam), plastic products began to penetrate into people's livessince the 1960s A number of household items made from bamboo, bamboo, naturalfibers in turn were replaced by plastic Paper packaging has been replaced withplastic In industry and construction, plastic materials also account for market share inmany areas such as water supply and drainage, decoration etc (Tran Hieu Nhue et al.,2001) According to Nguyen Danh Son (2012), an average Vietnamese person per yearuses at least 30 kg of plastic products Plastic materials have contributed to raising thecivilized level of life but also posed many problems related to environmental protection(Tran Hieu Nhue et al., 2001) Some researches on solid waste (CTR) in urban areas inthe Mekong Delta showed that the plastic composition accounted for 3.16-13.63% ofthe total amount of solid waste (Le Hoang Viet et al., 2011; extract from INVENT,2009); or accounting for 77% of recyclable waste in Can Tho City (Nguyen Vo ChauNgan et al., 2014)

In the context of economic development and changing patterns of consumption andproduction by people leading to a strong increase in plastic waste worldwide, theresearch organization on the trend of using plastic products is extremely necessary.

Therefore, the author chooses to research the topic “Plastic products consumption

trend and plastic waste in Asia, practical information and contact to Vietnam” to

evaluate the current consumption trend of plastic products

Research objectives

The objective of this research is to analyze the consumption trends of plasticproducts to point out the problem of plastic waste in Asia, especially in Vietnam inrecent years, and offer some solutions to solve this problem

Research question

The thesis will address the following research questions:

(1) What are the current consumption trends of plastic products?

3

(2) What are the basic issues facing Asia and Vietnam regarding plastic waste and What experiences are drawn?

(3) What is the solution to the problems of plastic waste in Asia in general and in Vietnam in particular?

Research Method

This study was conducted by the following method Firstly, I conduct the research bygiving an overview of the plastic industry in the world and Vietnam from raw materials,production technology, applications of plastic and actual consumption of products On thatbasis, the study reviews the research done on plastic pollution in Asia as well as inVietnam The thesis is mainly based on secondary statistics data from the WorldBank, thestatements of the governments of the countries, the annual reports of the major plasticcompanies in the world and Vietnam and the research works, reputable articles andnewspaper in the plastic industry and related Secondly, with a qualitative approach, theresearch shows that the solutions have been applied in the world and countries around theregion with similar conditions to Vietnam, identifying the main factors affecting the wasteplastic waste problem, identify the main problems of plastic waste in Asia and Vietnam,and also based on trends, demand for plastic products in the present and future

In addition, statistical and selective methods are also applied when this studyprovides a set of experiences and solutions that countries and businesses have applied

in solving plastic waste problems and implementationsuitable solutions to effectivelyapply in Vietnam

Structure of the thesis

In addition to the references, the list of figures, and conclusions, the thesis is divided into 3 main chapters as follows:

Chapter 1: Plastics consumption trend and plastics waste problem in Asia Chapter 2: Plastics consumption trend and plastics waste problem in Vietnam

Chapter 3: Recommendation for plastic waste management in Asia and contact to Vietnam

4

Literature review

*Definition of Plastic

Plastics are a series of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic compounds that have ductility and can therefore be molded into solid objects

Flexibility is a common property of all materials that can be irreversibly deformedwithout deterioration, but in materials such as molded polymers, this property reaches

the level that their real name derives from the This special feature

Plastics are typical high molecular weight organic polymers that often containother substances They are commonly synthesized, the most common source beingpetrochemical products, however, a variety of variations are made from renewablematerials such as corn polylactic acid or short cotton velvet cellulose (AmericanChemical Council, 2011)

According to Philos, Trans, Soc (2009), about a third of plastic is used forpackaging in developed economies, and in buildings such as pipes, pipes or vinylsheets, the use of plastic is close to same Other applications include cars (up to 20%),furniture and toys In developing countries, the use of plastic may differ from India's

42% of consumption for packaging Worldwide, about 50 kg of plastic is produced per person per year, and production doubles every ten years

With the advent of polymer implants and at least some other medical devicesout of plastic, plastic also has many uses in the medical field The naming in the plasticsurgery field is not due to the use of plastic materials, but because of the meaning of theword "plasticity" and related to the reshaping of flesh

The world's first synthetic resin was bakelite, invented by Leo Baekeland inNew York in 1907 He coined the term "plastic" (Edgar, David, Robin, 2009) Manychemists have contributed to plastic materials science, including Nobel Prize winnerHerman Statodinger, known as "the father of polymer chemistry" and Herman Mark,known as "the father of polymer physics" (Teegarden, David, 2004).

5

The success and dominance of plastics began in the early 20th century Due tothe composition of macromolecules, the plastic is removed as waste, and the rate ofdecomposition is slow, causing environmental concerns By the end of the century, away to solve this problem was met by a series of efforts, namely recycling

*Classification of plastic

Plastics are often classified according to the chemical structure of the mainchain and the side chain of polymers; Some of the important categories in thesecategories are: acrylic plastics, polyester, silicone, polyurethane and halogenatedplastics

Plastics can also be classified as follows: Chemical processes used in thesynthesis, such as condensation, polyaddition, and crosslinked (Wayback Machine,2011)

Plastics can also be classified according to their various physical properties,such as hardness, density, tensile strength, resistance to heat, and glass transitiontemperature, and are classified by properties their chemistry, such as the organicchemistry of polymers and their resistance and reaction to different chemical productsand processes For example: organic solvents, oxidants and radiation In particular,most plastics melt when heated to a few hundred degrees Celsius (Kent, 2008)

Other classifications are based on quality in relation to product manufacture ordesign Examples of quality and grade are: thermoplastics and thermosets, conductivepolymers, biodegradable plastics, engineering plastics and other resins with specialstructures, such as elastomers

An important classification of plastics is based on their permanent or impermanent morphology, whether they are thermoplastics or thermosets.

6

F IGURE 1 T YPES OF P LASTIC

Thermoplastic is a plastic that, when heated, its composition does not changechemically, so it can be molded many times Examples include: polyethylene (PE),polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) Conventionalthermoplastics range from 20,000 to 500,000 amu, while thermosets are thought tohave an infinite molecular weight

Thermosetting polymers, or thermosetting polymers, melt and form only once:when they are solidified, they remain solid (Gilleo, Ken, 2004) During thethermosetting process, an irreversible chemical reaction occurs Vulcanizing rubber is

an example of a thermosetting process: polyisoprene is a viscous material that flowsslightly before being heated with sulfur; Once vulcanization, the product is rigid andnon-sticky