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

13 Chapter 1: Overview of plastic products consumption and plastic waste problem .... 24 Chapter 2: Plastic product consumption trend and plastic waste problem in Asia .... 36Chapter 3:

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY

The dissertation has been completed with the great guidance of Dr MaiNguyen Ngoc I would like to express my sincere thanks for her patience andmassive help with reading the whole of the thesis and making valuablecomments for my research

By this occasion, I am much grateful to the Department of Graduate Studiesand Foreign Trade University - who have always create most favorable conditionsfor MORIE 2 students in completing our study Thank you so much for theirgenerosity and I owe a debt of gratitude to all helpers

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION 1

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS 3

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 6

LIST OF FIGURES 7

INTRODUCTION 8

1 Rationale 8

2 Literature review 9

3 Research questions 12

4 Methodologies 12

5 Structure of the thesis 13

Chapter 1: Overview of plastic products consumption and plastic waste problem 15

1.1 Overview of plastic sector 15

1.2 Plastic production 19

1.2.1 Definition and classification of plastics 19

1.2.2 Plastics product consumption 21

1.3 Plastic waste 22

1.4 Plastic waste problem 24

Chapter 2: Plastic product consumption trend and plastic waste problem in Asia 28

2.1 Plastic product consumption trend in Asia 28

2.1.1 Overview of plastic product consumption trend and main applications in Asia 28

2.1.2 Demand for eco friendly plastic product trend 33

2.2 Plastic waste disposal process in Asia 34

2.3 Plastic waste problem in Asia 36

Chapter 3: Plastic product consumption trend and plastic waste problem in Vietnam 45

3.1 Plastic product consumption trend in Vietnam 45

3.1.1.Overview of Plastic product consumption trend in Vietnam 45

3.1.2.Main application plastic productsin Vietnam 50

3.1.3.Demand for eco friendly plastic product trendin Vietnam 53

3.2 Plastic waste disposal process in Vietnam 53

3.3 Plastic waste problem in Vietnam 56

3.4 Comparison between plastic waste problem of Asia and Vietnam 58

Chapter 4: Recommendations of solutions for plastic waste management in Asia and contact to Vietnam 60

4.1 Experience of government policy on solving plastic waste problem (especially in Asia countries) 60

4.1.1 Join global policies and encourage NGOs and on reducing plastic waste 602 4.1.2 Policies and regulations on plastic and plastic bag management 614 4.1.3 Organize creative awards on environmental protection 63

4.1.4 Organize programs to educate people about the environment problems especially on the importance of reducing plastic waste 646 4.1.5 Apply waste management technology 65

4.1.6 Build waste managemen’s frameworks and hierarchy 65

4.2 Experience of companies in Asia on solving plastic waste problem 67 8 4.2.1 Issue internal environment policies 678 4.2.2 Classified waste and develop recyclable products 69

4.2.3 Taking advantage of plastic waste to produce other materials 71

4.2.4 alternativeUse materials 701 4.3 Proposing to Asia to solve plastic waste problem 72

4.4 Proposing to Vietnam to solve plastic waste problem 72 3

4.4.1 Solutions have been implemented to reduce plastic waste problem 723

4.4.2.Proposing to the government to solve plastic waste problem 7564.4.3 Proposing to organizations and companies operating in the plastic

industry 794.4.4 Proposing to organizations and individuals consuming plastic products 80

4.4.5.Encourage the activities of non-govermental environmental organizations 80

4.4.6.Overall solution 812

Conclusion 824 Reference 845

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Plastics life cycle 15

Figure 2 Types of Plastic 20

Figure 3 Annual plastic comsumption per capita (Kg) 29

Figure 4 Plastic consumption (per capita) is positively correlated with GDP growth rates 31

Figure 5 Compare traditional and modern plastic waste processing methods 34

Figure 6 Common Plastic waste Processing: Recycling 35

Figure 7 Share of plastic waste that is inadequately managed 37

Figure 8 Global Mismanaged plastic by region 38

Figure 9 The River of Plastics in Cambodia (NIkkei, 2018) 41

Figure 10 The man with massive piles of plastic in Munbai, India 43

Figure 11 Plastic consumption per capita (kg/person/Year) 48

Figure 12 Comsumption of Vietnam plastic market (Billion Ton) 50

Figure 13 Chain of plastic waste in Vietnam 56

1 Rationale

In 2018, according to United Nations report, the current global production ofplastics is over 300 million tons and in which 90% are not recycled Used plasticmaterial that cumulates in the environment—particularly in rivers, lakes, and theoceans—seems like a problem that is at once too complicated and not importantenough to fix Plastic waste harms the environment and poses threat to human

health.Firstly, plastic bags, straws, disposable plastic cups, foam boxes and bottledwater are mainly recycled from plastic products which contain toxic chemicalsand affect to human health seriously: plasticizers, pigments, lead, cadmium etc willstop infecting food then be absorbed into the human body through use Thesematerials cumulated for a long time resulting cancer, adversely affect braindevelopment in children, tissue changes, chromosome changes, miscarriage, birthdefects, hormonal changes and many other consequences for human health

Secondly, burning plastic and nylon wastes causes a threat to public health.The more consumption demand increases sharply, the more quantity of plastic bags

as well as others plastic one are discharged into the environment Hence, wastemanagement, refuse collection and disposal are not timely, this means that problem

is still very popular When we burn plastic material, a lot of harmful gases and toxicsubstances are discharged into environment including dioxins, furans that causesbreathing difficulty, affects the endocrine glands, reduce immunity and dysfunctionetc

In addition, plastic wastes causes negative impact on ecological environment:Although plastic bags and other plastic products are used in a short time and onlythen, thrown away, they have long decomposition that cause harmful effects forhumane health, environment, and ecosystem on the earth According to theresearchers, it takes from 500 to 1000 years for plastic bags to decompose in thenatural environment Meanwhile, the amount of plastic waste discharged into theenvironment is very huge with nearly one third of plastic bags daily is not collected

and treated As a result, plastic waste and plastic bags are everywhere, causing heavyenvironmental pollution and creating conditions for diseases to multiply and develop

In the context of economic development and people’s changing patterns ofconsumption and production have led to a drastic increase in plastic wastes all overthe world, the research aims to analysis the plastic products consumption trend topoint out the plastic waste problem in Asia especially in Vietnam in recent yearsand give some solutions to resolves this matter

2 Literature review

In her doctoral dissertation, Thu (2018) explores the factors that influencecustomers' purchasing green products The thesis studies customers' intention to buygreen products, especially related to food products with environmentally friendlypackaging Our research focuses on packaged foods, especially packaged instantnoodles, in the developing market The author said that it would be useful to focus

on understanding the special relationship between the intention to buy the productand the willingness of customers to open their bags to buy environmentallyfriendly packaging Thu (2018) believes that people are more likely to buy green

products if they consider themselves an environmentalist or an activist in

environmental issues.Mui (2018) surveyed the current status of plastic waste and proposed limitedsolutions in Can Tho in her research

Loan (2013) researches the topic "Management of domestic solid waste inQuoc Oai district, Hanoi city" to limit the level of environmental pollution caused

by waste and reduce the cost of domestic solid waste management Accordingly,the majority of domestic waste in this locality is plastic waste and has not yetbeen treated The author proposes measures to improve waste pollution, includingincreasing resources and budget for waste management in general and plastic waste

in particular At the same time, the ministries from the city to the commune need todevelop specific action plans according to the goals set by the state and the citygovernment

Thuy et el (2015) delves into Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), one of the

most popular materials that is widely used in many fields with a very fast growthrate Research shows that the level of PET plastic consumption is increasing Theannual amount of PET waste discharged into the environment is very large.Thuy et el (2015) explored PET recycling methods as well as the possibilities andscope of the recycled PET application and proposed the application of recyclingtechnology or reuse of waste PET plastic to contribute to prevent preventenvironmental pollution, and limit the ability to exploit resources.

The rapid urbanization and economic growth in different countries have led

to a drastic increase in plastic production and consumption around the globe Owing

to the low recycling value of plastic and the lack of technological support, therecovery rate of plastic waste remains very low Most of it is washed into the ocean,disposed of in landfills, or burned in incinerators These enormous amounts ofplastic waste bring disastrous consequences, such as pollution, food chain con-tamination, biodiversity breakdowns, energy waste, and economic loss

There have been a lot of studies on plastic waste, the serious problems thatplastic waste causes to the living environment and solutions to solve the aboveproblem Chow (2017) studied Plastic Waste Problem and Education for PlasticWaste Management This research points to a dramatic increase in worldwideplastic waste and the disposal of plastic waste that is harmful to theenvironment and threatening human health Chow (2017) emphasizes that in order

to reduce plastic waste, education is extremely important because educationcan change people: Knowledge, attitude and behavior towards plastic wastemanagement Fobil (2006) studies plastic wastes in a developing economy andoffers an approach for Ghana Accordingly, this study shows that the packagingrevolution in Ghana has not been adequately supported by the appropriate plasticwaste management policy, causing cities to be flooded with plastic waste; thus,creating visual disturbances and other public health problems The paper discussesthe experiences, challenges and prospects of plastic waste management programs

in Ghana and proposes a new tax model that addresses this environmental problem.The author promotes a long-term remedy such as a polluted tax system that ishandled carefully

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Research by Purwoko (2016) suggests that the current development of plastictechnology has found that environmentally friendly plastics, in particular,biodegradable plastics can decompose in a shorter period of time Technologicalimprovements are still ongoing, but biodegradable plastics are more expensive thannon-biodegradable plastics People tend to choose inexpensive, non-biodegradableplastics and avoid expensive biodegradable plastics Purwoko's study (2016)provides a fiscal policy alternative to reduce the amount of plastic waste This studyconcludes that a combination of incentive and disrespectful fiscal policies can beapplied to reduce the amount of plastic waste Financial incentives (subsidies) may

be applied to increase the use of biodegradable plastics and policies that are notfinancially appropriate can be applied to reduce the use of non-biodegradableplastics without causing burden for the government

In Vietnam, there was a study by Linh et al (2019) on factors affectingconsumer behavior This study analyzed factors affecting consumers, behavioralintent to reduce plastic waste The results have been confirmed that an attitude ofacceptance of a change in an individual's ability to reduce plastic waste Based onthese findings, the author has made a number of recommendations that have beenproposed to enhance individual consumer behavioral intent to reduce plastic waste

These plastic waste problems and adverse effects are especially serious andomnipresent in renowned countries/mega cites such as Japan (PWMI,2014), Taiwan(Walther,2015), the UK (GHK,2006; Howarth,2013), and Hong Kong(Environmental Protection Department,2013), where economic activities areflourishing and the plastic consumption level is high Plastic waste not only causesair pollution (Li, Lee, Mi, & Su,1995), land pollution (Barnes, Galgani, Thompson,

& Barlaz,2009;Steelys Drinkware,2013), and harms human health (Crinnion,2010;Elliott et al.,1996; Maffini, Rubin, Sonnenschein, & Soto,2006; Yamamoto &Yasuhara,1999),but it also causes water pollution (Howarth,2013; Laist,1987;Perkins,2014;Schwartz,2014; Zielinski,2014) and contaminates the food chain(Rochman et al.,2014; Swan,2008; Thompson, Moore, Saal, & Swan,2009),endangers biodiversity (Derraik, 002; Grant & Ryder, 2009; Gregory, 2009;

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McNamee,2008), and causes enormous energy waste (Cho,2012; EuropeanCommission,2013; HongKong Cleanup,2012; StudyMode,2015; Themelis &Mussche,2014).

In general, studies have addressed the problem of plastic waste in manycountries around the world and Asia, many solutions have been implemented andmany experiences have been drawn However, a full study of solutions thatcountries and businesses have applied and specific lessons for Vietnam to reducethe problem of plastic waste has not been fully studied, especially one overallsolution for plastic waste reduction planning and effective implementation ofrecycling industry

3 Researchquestions

The thesis will address the following research questions:

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

(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 generaland in Vietnam in particular?

4 Methodologies

This study was conducted by the following method Firstly, I conduct theresearch by giving an overview of the plastic industry in the world and Vietnamfrom raw materials, production technology, applications of plastic and actualconsumption of products On that basis, the study reviews the research done onplastic pollution in Asia as well as in Vietnam The thesis is mainly based onsecondary statistics data from the WorldBank, the statements of the governments ofthe countries, the annual reports of the major plastic companies in the world andVietnam and the research works, reputable articles and newspaper in the plasticindustry and related Secondly, with a qualitative approach, the research shows thatthe solutions have been applied in the world and countries around the region withsimilar 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 haveapplied in solving plastic waste problems and implementationsuitable solutions toeffectively apply in Vietnam

5 Structure of the thesis

The thesis will focus on analyzing the main characteristics of the plasticindustry, the main problem related to plastic waste that Asia and Vietnam are facingand overcoming shortcomings in waste reduction solutions in other countries, andbusinesses in the world, to apply reasonably in Vietnam In addition to theintroduction focused on reviewing development history and theoretical studies onplastic waste, the thesis will be divided into four chapters

Chapter 1 will be dedicated to give a general overview of the plastic industry

as well as in Asia and Vietnam Chapter 1 shows that the plastics industry is a standing industry with many important life benefits and is still growing strongly inAsia, especially in developing countries We can only reduce plastic waste and notcompletely eliminate it from life Chapter 1 also focuses on the plastic comsumptiontrend and plastic waste problems in general

long-Chapter 2 presents the plastic comsumption trend and the most seriousproblems related to plastic waste in Asia The problems with plastic waste areessentially the same and every country must go through the same stages when facedwith the problem of plastic waste The thesis also mentions the trend of plasticconsumption in recent years and plastic waste disposal process in Asia

Chapter 3 presents the plastic comsumption trend and the most seriousproblems related to plastic waste in Vietnam Chapter 3 also mentions the trend ofplastic consumption, main application demand for eco friendly plastic products inrecent years and plastic waste disposal process in Vietnam

Chapter 4 focuses on the situation and experience on solving plastic wasteproblems in Asia and Vietnam - the region where the proportion of plastic use percapita is still low, but it is the hottest point about plastic waste This chapter alsodetails solutions that have been implemented ineffectively, inadequacies in wastetreatment and plastic waste recycling.Chapter 4 also is suitable to real conditionsand conditions to solve the problem of plastic waste in Vietnam, including a totalsolution with the participation of all stakeholders in the plastic value chain.

Chapter 1: Overview of plastic products consumption and plastic waste

problem

The value chain of the plastic industry from fossil raw materials to the finalplastic products consists of two segments: upstream and downstream Crude oil isthe raw material for the most diverse output structure while natural gas is theadvantageous material when producing PE Each type of input material will produce

a different output composition structure The product from natural gas is about 80%,Ethylene is a direct derivative of PolyEthylene, so PE production areas from naturalgas often have advantages in production costs (Plastics Europe, 2018)

F IGURE 1 P LASTICS LIFE CYCLE

Source: Plastics Europe

According to Figure 1, more than 90% of raw plastic is produced from fossilfuels (oil or natural gas) The polymers are synthesized by large petrochemicalcompanies such as ExxonMobil, Sinopec and Total The plastic is then sold toplastic manufacturers for making objects, primarily by spraying, blow molding

or thermoforming, and assembled or sold directly by the brand owners

The price of plastic material output will depend on supply and demand of theworld market and production costs In the global plastic raw material market, thereare many suppliers and the consumer market is also the world market, so the price

of plastic raw materials output will depend on the supply and demand of the market

In addition, because the cost of raw materials accounts for 70% of the cost ofproducing plastic materials, the fluctuations of fossil raw materials such as crudeoil, natural gas or coal will also affect the prices of plastic material type

The downstream segment of the plastic industry is the process of plasticmaterials used by manufacturers to form plastic products.The downstream segment

of the plastic industry uses plastic granules as input, through physicaltransformation and shaping of materials to create plastic products The downstreamsegment of the plastic industry is divided into 4 main segments corresponding to 4output products: packaging plastic, construction plastic, civil plastic andengineering plastic Each small segment of the downstream segment hasdifferent input and output characteristics

Asia countries

China is the region with the largest production of plastic materials in theworld Advantage of input materials such as natural gas for West Asia or coal withChina, make the petrochemical industry in these areas extremely developed andplays a very important role in the value chain of the Asia plastic industry In theperiod of 2012 - 2017, the production of plastic materials in Asia increasedcontinuously while production in developed regions entered the saturation stage

Asia demand for plastic materials is expected to grow slowly from 2017.According to Nexant's prediction, demand for plastic materials only grows anaverage

of 3.8% per year in the period of 2017-2025 Plastic manufacturing has only grown

at an average rate of 4% over the past 20 years.So China and Asia are the maingrowth drivers of the global plastic industry The growth rate of demand for plasticmaterials from China and the rest of Asia are forecasted to be 4.95% and 4.57%,respectively, higher than the world average The reason is, Asia is the region withhigh economic growth and plastic consumption per capita is still low compared tothe world average In addition, the Middle East is also a region with high growth indemand for plastic materials with a growth rate of 4.46% for the period of 2017 –

2025 (Plastics Europe, 2018)

China is also the world's largest producer of plastic materials but also leadsthe world in importing plastic materials The reason for this is that China is theregion with the largest amount of plastic material consumed in the world.According to EuroMap estimates, the amount of plastic materials produced inChina meets 80% of domestic raw material demand while the remaining 20%depends on imports.Saudi Arabia is other major exporters of plastic materials due

to their cost advantage Saudi Arabia is one of the world's two largest countrieswith annual reserves and reserves of natural gas According to statistics from BP,natural gas reserves in the Saudi Arabia are 8.6 trillion cubic meters, accountingfor about 4% of global natural gas reserves Saudi Arabia production in 2017 was734.5 billion cubic meters, accounting for 20% of global natural gas productionand Saudi Arabia was 111.4 billion cubic meters, accounting for about 3% of theworld's output The advantage of natural gas makes Saudi Arabia became one ofregions with advantages in manufacturing and exporting plastic materials,especially PE, in Asia and the world market (Plastics Europe, 2018)

Plastic sector in Vietnam

In Vietnam, According to Virac (2018), plastic industry is one of theindustries with relatively fast growth compared to the economy in general In theperiod from 2012 to 2017, Vietnam's plastic industry grew on average 11.6% ayear faster than the world plastic industry's 3.9% growth and faster than the averageGDP growth of

about 6.2% of Vietnam in the same period The output of Vietnam's plastic industry

is applied in many different fields from consumer, trade to construction, assemblyand is divided into four main areas: plastic packaging products, civil plastic,construction plastic and engineering plastic

The scale of the plastic industry in 2017 is estimated at US $ 15 billion,equivalent to about 6.7% of Vietnam's GDP in 2017 Of which, the largestproportion is the packaging and construction plastic segment In addition toserving domestic demand, Vietnam's plastic industry is currently available in morethan 160 countries around the world with an estimated export turnover of US $ 2.5billion in 2017, up 14.3% Compared to 2016 and accounting for 1.2% of Vietnam'stotal export turnover in 2017 Within the scope of this report, we will focus on thetwo largest segments in the output structure of the plastic industry, the plasticpackaging segment and construction plastic

In 2017, Vietnam's plastic industry consumed about 5.9 million tons ofplastic raw materials, equivalent to the average plastic consumption per capita at

63 kg / person / year This rate of Vietnam in 1990 was only 3.8 kg / person /year; Thus, between 1990 and 2017, Vietnam's plastic consumption per capita grew

by an average of 10.6% per year

Vietnam's primary plastic materials still depend heavily on imported rawmaterials In the period of 2018-2021, petrochemical projects that have been putinto operation will significantly improve Vietnam's primary plastic raw materialproduction capacity However, with the current size and growth rate of thedownstream of the plastic industry, the supply of plastic materials is still insufficient

to meet domestic demand

Growth in plastics industry is expected to maintain at an average rate of6.5% in the period of 2019 - 2023 The two largest segments of Vietnam's plasticindustry value structure are plastic packaging and construction plastic.Construction is expected to be the main growth engine of the industry (Virac,2018)

Plastic material prices maintained a downward trend in the short term and were

more stable in the medium term In the short term, prices of raw materials such as

PE, PP and PVC are tending to decrease in the same period In the medium term,prices of plastic raw materials are expected to be more stable due to the globalsupply and demand of plastic raw materials

1.2.1 Definition and classification of plastics

Firstly, flexible materials are organic compounds that are able to changeshape under the influence of heat or pressure and retain that deformation at the end

of the process Flexible materials are durable, lightweight and hard, come in avariety of colors Plastic materials are divided into 2 large groups: Plastic andElastomers (such as rubber, silicon) and within the scope of this report we willfocus on plastic materials

Secondly, plastic material is not only a homogeneous material but alsoincludes many types of ceramic with different properties and specific applicability.Plastic materials are organic compounds derived from fossil fuels such aspetroleum, natural gas and coal or derived from biological materials, typicallycorn starch, potatoes, cassava

Finally, plastic materials derived from fossil fuels or from biologicalmaterials are both recyclable to complete a plastic product's circulation.Currently, mainly plastic materials used in the world are derived from fossil rawmaterials

Classification of plastic materials:

Thermoplastic is a plastic material when heated to melting point, will changeits physical shape and retain its shape when temperature decreases This process can

be applied repeatedly, making thermoplastics a highly renewable material Somecommon thermoplastics (Figure 2) are PolyEthylene (PE) and derivatives (HDPE,LDPE and LLDPE), PolyPropylene (PP), PolyStyren (PS), PolyVinyl Chloride(PVC), etc

F IGURE 2T YPES OF P LASTIC

Thermoset resins: A type of plastic material that, when heated to a certaintemperature, will change both its physical shape and its chemical properties to create

a three-dimensional structure that cannot be melted again Therefore thermosetplastics are not able to regenerate Some popular thermoset resins are Epoxy, VinylEste, Melamine, PolyUrethane,

Thermoplastics have flexible properties, good regenerability and relativelycheaper production costs than thermosets and other types of flexible materials.Thermoplastics account for about 75% of the global plastic consumption structure

The most commonly used thermoplastics are PE, PP, PVC and PET In globalconsumption structure of plastic materials in 2017, PE (with derivatives of HDPE,LDPE, LLDPE) and PP accounted for the highest proportion with 28% and 20%,respectively Ranked third in the consumption structure is PVC with 12%

Plastic production technologies include Extrusion Blow MoldingTechnology, Injection Molding Technology and Extrusion Molding Technology

Blowing technology is a common technology used to produce plastic bags,complex film packaging and plastic bottles serving the packaging of food, beverage

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or food processing industries Used directly in the system of retailers and supermarkets.

Injection molding technology is a technology commonly used to producemost plastic products in molds in large quantities The injection moldingtechnology is mainly applied to the production of household plastic products such

as pots, plastic containers, etc and technical plastic components formanufacturing and assembly industries

Other than the above 2 methods, extrusion technology is used to producebuilding plastic products such as plastics pipes, plastic door profile bars or plasticfilms used in agriculture In addition to the common technologies and widely used

in the plastic industry mentioned above, currently 3D printing technology isalso a technology that produces plastic products and components withextremely high accuracy but not yet widely applied in mass production

1.2.2 Plastics product consumption

The plastic industry has now entered a saturated phase with the growth rate

of production output and consumption gradually decreasing to around 4% from

2013 - 2017 Plastic consumption index per capita of regions such as NAFTA orJapan are all higher than the average of 200-300% compared to the world average

of 45kg / person / year with an average growth rate of about 3% / year Plasticproduction and demand in Asia have been steadily increasing since 1950 and therehas been no sign of decline due to the benefits of plastic (Meidl, 2018)

However, the plastic and packaging industry is booming in other countries inAsia - including China - because of rising incomes and consumption, which boostsdemand across the region In addition, population growth, urbanization and lifestylechanges will boost demand for plastic packaging even further

China has led the region in increasing plastic production over the past sixdecades and accounts for more than 20% of global plastic production SoutheastAsia accounts for 20% of global production Thus China and Southeast Asia aloneaccount for 40% of global plastic production

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Of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),plastic and plastic products brought the region nearly $ 40 billion in export revenue

in 2013

Plastic material production structure is trending to shift to Asia andespecially China The reason is that the plastic industry in two regions, Europeand North America, has entered the saturation phase with a high rate of plasticconsumption per capita Meanwhile, Asia is a region with low plastic consumptionper capita and a high growth rate of plastic demand

Asia and China are expected to be areas with fast growth in demand forplastic products in the future The growth potential of demand for plastic products

in Asia is huge when the economic growth rate of countries in the region ishigh and the economic structure is also shifting to industries Many industries useplastic products such as automotive and electrical - electronics industries

Environmentally friendly factors are gradually becoming an essentialcriterion in the consumption trend of developed markets' products Therefore,converting production into good biodegradable plastic products is an inevitabletrend of the global plastic industry

According to Waste Management Series (2004), plastic waste is ground,washed and stirred giving it an aqueous suspension, which is separated by threeconsecutive centrifuges Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic products inthe environment including soil and oceans, adversely affecting wildlife, wildlifehabitats and humans Plastic waste includes disposable plastic products such asplastic bags, plastic bottles, plastic straws, and other plastic products

There are many ways to classify plastic waste such as relying on pollutingplastic waste including soil and oceans Plastic waste can also be sorted byrecyclable and non-recyclable In addition, plastic waste can be sorted based onthe source generated such as from households, from manufacturing enterprises orfrom public places The most common classifications may be based on the differentresins we use

PET or Polyethylene terephthalate

This plastic beverage and perishable beverage packaging is plastic and issaid to be a safe and recyclable plastic by shredding and then reusing into otherproducts such as bottles, rugs or furniture furniture and garments

HDPE or High-Density Polyethylene

This is another type of plastic that can be classified as safe We can find thisplastic in baby shower bottles and baby toys HDPE does not lose shape ordeteriorate under sunlight, so it is used for outdoor furniture and trash

PVC or Polyvinyl Chloride

It is a form of plastic that can be used for pipes, windows and various types

of medical devices and is used in applications that require plastic to bend,including plastic wrap and cables This type of plastic, called toxic plastic, shouldnot be used for food or drinks because it contains toxic chemicals There is a linkbetween these chemicals and liver disease and developmental problems in children

LDPE or low-density polyethylene

This safe and clean plastic is popular in a number of items including plasticshopping bags and squeezable bottles After recycling, we can reuse it in items likebubble wrap and even furniture

Other plastic

Other types of items that can be difficult to recycle include sunglasses,bottles and even CDs They contain BPA, a toxic chemical and can cause hormonaldisruptions as well as a range of health problems

Plastics are a petrochemical-based synthetic material used as a raw material

in a range of industries including textiles, packaging, household appliances,electricity and water, as well as automotive and aircraft manufacturing With onlyone-third of plastic materials recovered for recycling or reuse, most of them havebeen dumped into the sea and oceans causing serious problems Most marinedebris is plastic and it takes more than 400 years for them to decompose orbiodegrade to harm over 200 different marine species and human health Manyanimals have accidentally ingested plastic debris, resulting in suffocation,malnutrition and even death Originally manufactured products found in textiles

or cosmetics and personal care products, etc., are difficult to find and recoverbecause they are the result of larger pieces of plastic being broken into smallerpieces Plastic debris often contains toxic chemicals including unburntcompounds that cause tens of billions of dollars in annual damage to coastalcleanup, fisheries, maritime transport and tourism (UNEP, 2014)

With 242 million tons of plastic waste generated by the world in 2016 (WorldBank 2018), the World Bank believes that the accumulation of plastic waste inrecent decades has actually had a negative impact on the surroundingenvironment and human health In addition to taking hundreds to thousands ofyears to disintegrate in nature, plastic waste can cause floods due to sewageclogging, shortening the life span of animals when consumed, causing respiratoryillness when burning, and polluting the bodies of water when they fall into canalsand oceans By 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish (by weight) ifthere is no effective solution When plastic waste is poorly managed by a country /business, they enter the environment through dumping, landfill and disposal bywater According to statistics, more than 25% of plastic waste is dumped openlyand plastic waste is also increasing due to improperly

managed official disposal sites Even when garbage is collected collectively, manycountries lack waste treatment capabilities and technologies Many developedcountries have policies to export plastic waste to less developed countries such asEurope exported 1/6 of the quality of plastic waste to Asia in 2017 (World Bank,2018).

Plastic waste has become a major global concern Plastic production andconsumption worldwide have increased by 10% per year from 5 million tons in

1950 to 245 million tons in 2006 A study by Howarth (2013) suggests thatconsumers are still not easily to recycle their plastic waste It is also unclear formany types of plastic accepted for recycling Some of these plastics must be taken

to recycling centers, but PVC is completely non-recyclable

There is also a large amount of plastic that is ultimately not recycled or sent

to landfills, but ultimately pollutes the natural environment For example, in thePacific, due to the current, a large amount of plastic and other waste materials haveformed gradually, not even easily seen because the plastic has decomposed intosmall and attractive polymers Chlorinated dioxins are eaten by marine organisms.Accordingly, these substances can penetrate the human food chain and causeserious health problems (Howarth, 2013) Michael (2015) also argues that plasticwaste escaping disposal in a recycling, incineration or landfill facility is likely toreach oceans Most of the dominant plastics, such as polyethylene andpolypropylene, float to the ocean Michael (2015) also argues that the results ofstudies so far show that different types of plastic materials differ in their tendency

to carry pollutants The most widely used polymer: polyethylene is particularlysusceptible to organic molecules from seawater and acts as carriers to feed theminto the food web, although theoretically, the particles are buried in sedimentthus can remove pollutants from circulation Therefore, the problem of plasticwaste affects not only the environment but also human health So, manycompanies are trying to replace oil-based chemicals currently used in productionwith a lignin-derived chemical Lignin is a complex hydrocarbon found in the cellwalls of plants and is widely available because it is a waste product from the pulpand paper industry This research makes plastics not only

more environmentally friendly, but also reduces production costs (Howarth, 2013).

Steelys (2013) in the study referred to the global landfill crisis, which ismainly caused by plastic waste The environmental issues caused by landfills arenumerous with the scope of our global garbage crisis that may exceed thechallenges we are currently facing Billions of tons of waste sent to landfillsare creating serious problems for future generations with most of this landfill beingplastic or polystyrene oil These substances are used to produce bottles, mugs andcontainers, contain toxins and decompose at a very slow rate (1,000 years or more)and contain many toxins Research shows that plastic containers account for nearly50% of recyclable landfill waste and currently only recycle about 27% of plasticbottles and the rest mostly goes to landfills or is discharged into the environment

In a recent simulation, Marcus Eriksen from the Five Gyres Institute in LosAngeles, USA estimated that there are 5.25 trillion plastic items weighing morethan 268,000 tons floating in the ocean Researchers have put these data sets intocomputer models and the specific results of this model research have surprised andmotivated further research Although the sources of plastic waste are thought to,including densely populated lands and transport routes, are more concentrated inthe north than in the southern hemisphere, data show that plastic accumulates in thenorth and south hemisphere are the same The authors speculate that removalmechanisms, such as leaching on beaches, help limit the density of floatingplastic debris in the north However, the comprehensive model of global plasticdistribution in the oceans still has many unanswered questions, especially aboutthe interaction of plastics with living organisms (Michael, 2015)

The development of biodegradable plastics or microorganisms suitable forplastic decomposition will be the best strategy for plastic waste In Manoj et al(2016), six different types of starch resins (low density polyethylene [LDPE],10%, 20% 30%, 40% and 50% LDPE starch) to be evaluated price ofbiodegradation of various types of encapsulated resins in soil environmentscontaining microbial collections to enhance biodegradation Accordingly, soildegradation increases with increasing

starch content in LDPE and the best results are obtained in starch containingsamples by more than 30% At the same time degradation in soil is better thancompost Thus, with an appropriate environment, plastic materials have betterdecomposition capacity and contribute to solving the problem of plastic waste(Michael, 2015).

Chapter 2: Plastic product consumption trend and plastic waste problem in

Asia

2.1.1 Overview of plastic product consumption trend and main applications in

Asia

Overview of plastic product consumption trend

According APME (2019) Asia and China are expected to be areas with fastgrowth in demand for plastic products in the future Asia has a low plasticconsumption per capita compared to other regions and the world average.Therefore, the growth potential of demand for plastic products in Asia is hugewhen the economic growth rate of countries in Asia is high and the economicstructure is changing and transit into industries that use a lot of plastic productssuch as the automotive and electrical - electronics industries

Figure 3 shows that plastic consumption per capita of typical Asian countriessuch as Korea and China is much lower than that of Europe or the US despitehaving a strong growth in the years from 2009 to 2019 , even China's plasticconsumption per capita is only 1/4 of Belgium and 1/3 of the US

F IGURE 3A NNUALPLASTIC COMSUMPTION PER CAPITA (K G )

Source: Association of Plastics Manufacturers in Europe (APME)

Economics Review

By 2030, Asia may account for more than half of world consumption.Population growth, increasing demand and overall economic progress have led tothe abuse and abuse of resources and the explosion of solid waste, especiallydisposable plastic According to a 2015 study, although ASEAN member stateshave low per capita plastic consumption, they account for six of the top 20countries ranked by the size of the mis-treated plastic waste (Pat, 2020)

Packaging is the main product accounting for most of the demand for plastic,accounting for 40% of the world's demand Consumer and household products (such

as appliances, toys, plastic cutlery and furniture) occupy the next most importantsegment, closely followed by the construction and construction sectors.Accordingly, plastic production is shifting to Asia In 2013, the region produced45.6% of global plastics product, China alone has produced nearly a quarter of theworld's plastic and surpassed Europe’s in plastics since 2010 With populationand growth of manufacturing industries, Asia has recently witnessed a stronggrowth in plastic production and consumption (Gaelle, 2015)

The booming packaging and plastic industry in Asia is being fueled by risingincomes and increased consumption, which will increase the demand for plasticsacross the region In fact, Asia's consumption is still lower than the world average in

2015 and far below the developed regions in the world such as the US or Europe.China has led the region in increasing plastic production over the past six decades

to account for over 20% of global plastic production Southeast Asia accounts for20% of global production, of which Vietnam has achieved an average growth of18% in the plastics industry, with a large share of exports

A growth rate in plastic production also leads to increasing plasticconsumption in Asia Thailand is the regional leader in plastic consumption percapita at 40 kg, Malaysia reports 35 kg per person and Indonesia is 17 kg peryear This level of consumption is still very low compared to the world average(Engoo, 2017)

30

F IGURE 4 P LASTIC CONSUMPTION ( PER CAPITA ) IS POSITIVELY CORRELATED

WITH GDP GROWTH RATES

Source: UNCRD 2019

In Figure 4, plastic consumption (per capita) is positively correlated withregional and regional GDP growth rates (Choudhury et al, 2019) In which, southand southeast of Asia play a leading role in growth and determine the plasticconsumption trend of the whole Asia Based on the picture above, Korea Repubic,Japan, China, Thailand and Maylaysia have a clear correlation between plasticconsumption and GDP, and these are also countries with high per capita demand.Thus, along with the high GDP growth rate of the region, especially Southeast Asia,the actual plastic consumption trend will continue to grow in the coming years

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In addition, the main trend of plastic consumption is the increasing trend ofplastic consumption in the packaging field, which accounts for 40-50% of totalplastic consumption This trend is also consistent with the region's rapideconomic development.

Consumption of plastic by value grows slightly faster than total plasticswhen ICP (Polypropylene Impact Copolymer) triples Although conductiveplastic is a small market, ICP is an emerging market, but it is very promising andtends to grow strongly in the near future ICP is one of several new solutions formass-produced or specific devices such as transparent electronics, transparentconductive films and PV (Michel, 2013)

In short, the Asia plastic industry and especially ASEAN is expected toexpand greatly both domestically and internationally in the coming years andpotentially bring important opportunities for foreign investors In addition,twelve countries including the United States, Australia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Japanand Canada have adopted the Trans-Pacific Trade Agreement (TPP) Under TPP,trade rules between member countries will be liberalized to enhance economicrelations With the development of ASEAN countries, consumer base, expandingimport and export plastic market and expanding foreign trade power, ASEANASEAN plastic industry offers foreign investors an important opportunity topenetrate the Asian plastic market In particular, Thailand focused on developingthe bioplastics industry that promises to offer foreign investors greateropportunities in the ASEAN plastic market In recent years, the Thai government

of Thailand has continued to promote environmentally friendly plasticmanufacturing companies and paid great attention to reducing plastic waste in theregion and the Thailand bioplastics market is relatively new and open to foreigninvestors, providing more access to foreign investors while the remainingcountries mainly focus on manufacturing domestically produced plastics (Dezan,2015)

Main application plastic products in Asia

According to a report by Grand View Research (2019), Asian markets will

continue to consume more strongly in products in the construction industry and automobiles with the most global growth In which China and India are leadingcountries in the consumption of plastic products, especially with plastic productsusing materials that are easy to design and flexible Construction plastic ispopular with pipe products and door designs.

In addition, in Asia, the use of plastic bags has become more and morewidespread, including food and beverage products, personal care products, familycare products, and electronic devices

2.1.2 Increasing demand for eco friendly plastic product trend

Facing the problem overload of plastic waste, countries around the world aregradually pushing to limit the use of plastic packaging and especially disposablepackaging to minimize the amount of plastic waste released into the environment.The main measures are to ban part or all of the use of packaging, and economicmeasures related to taxes or fines The consumption of many plastic packagingproducts such as the EU, US, and China in order to limit the use of disposableplastic packaging will greatly affect the global plastic packaging segment In thetrend of consuming eco-friendly products, biodegradable plastic products arepreferred products to replace traditional plastic products Total production capacity

of global biodegradable plastic materials in 2018 reached 2.1 million tons / year,

of which biodegradable plastic accounted for 1.2 million tons and bioplasticsaccounted for 0.9 tons According to the European Bioplastics forecast, totalproduction capacity of biodegradable plastic materials in 2023 is estimated at2.6 million tons / year, equivalent to an average growth of 4.4% a year in theperiod of 2018-2023

The downward trend in the consumption of disposable plastic productsbecause many countries issued a ban on use, the world gradually shifted toconsumption of green, environmentally friendly packaging products

The trend of shifting to eco friendly plastic products is gradually becoming

an essential criterion in the consumption trends of developed markets Therefore,converting production into products with good biodegradability is an inevitabletrend

of the global plastic industry Along with above trend, global plastic materialproduction structure is trending to shift to Asia and especially China (Grand ViewResearch, 2019).

2.2 Plastic waste disposal process in Asia

The system for recycling plastic waste can help local industries grow andrecover value from recycled materials In the absence of recycling, restoring energyfrom plastic waste is the only revenue generating possibility However, plastic wasterecycling systems are more complex than traditional waste treatment systems withseparate machinery and processes (Figure 5), resulting in higher waste managementcosts Plastic manufacturers and consumers often have to pay this additional costthrough EPR (Woldemar, 2019)

F IGURE 5 C OMPARE TRADITIONAL AND MODERN PLASTIC WASTE PROCESSING

METHODS

Source: Woldemar 2019

F IGURE 6 C OMMON P LASTIC WASTE P ROCESSING : R ECYCLING

Source: FOST Plus 2015

In Figure 6, a closed cycle of the process of civil plastic waste begins withthe consumption of products made from plastic These products generate plasticwaste and are collected by the plastic waste collection system In developedcountries such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the system of waste bins andtransport is well arranged so the proportion of plastic waste collected is oftenhigh but in less developed countries, garbage Plastic waste is usually collected atlandfills or cannot be recovered because plastic waste is not included in thetreatment cycle The classification of plastic waste is done manually orautomatically depending on the conditions in each country in Asia, but the manualimplementation still accounts for a large proportion After being sorted, the plasticwaste is closed in packages and transported to the crushing and washing plant toremove impurities before being transferred to recycling systems to create suitablematerials These semi-finite products will be shipped to factories to produce endproducts and market them

2.3 Plastic waste problem in Asia

The majority of plastic waste in Asia has not been processed (in the figure 7below on ¾ of Asia's regions, over 60% of plastic waste is inadequately managed).Aside from the least developed country in Africa, Asia is the worst plastic wastemanagement region in the world Countries with high rates of inadequatelymanaged plastic waste include China and most of Southeast Asia, which are alsothe region with the highest economic growth rate in the world (Jambeck et al,2018)

F IGURE 7 S HARE OF PLASTIC WASTE THAT IS INADEQUATELY MANAGED

Source: Jambeck et al 2018Asia has achieved the fastest economic growth rate in the world and plasticproduction has exploded accordingly However, the waste management capacity hasnot kept up with the consumption rate and caused serious problems while theapplication of plastic is still needed due to the convenience factor.In fact, the

Americas and Europe use more plastic per capita than people in Asia but theirability to recycle and treat waste is often more efficient so they don't have seriousenvironmental and public health problems (Dominic, 2018) As for plastic waste,Asia is the region with the most serious problems According to Figure 7 and 8, thesource of unmanaged plastic waste comes mainly from Asia with China, Indonesia,the Philippines, Vietnam and Sri Lanka (where the amount of mishandled plasticwaste is measured by the amount of uncontrolled or incomplete disposal of plastics.Asian countries, especially Southeast Asia, have become landfills for richercountries, the amount of plastic waste imported into countries such as thePhilippines, Malaysia and Indonesia more than doubled, following the wasteplastics ban of China in 2017 Figure 8 below shows that Asia accounts for 70% ofunmanaged/ mismanaged plastic waste worldwide.

FIGURE 8 GLOBAL MISMANAGED PLASTIC BY REGION

Source:Jambeck et al 2018Why Asia has not achieved better results in reducing plastic waste?

Firstly, efforts to reduce the amount of plastic consumed seem to be ineffective because the disposable plastic has been used too much in everyday life In addition