Vietnam to end plastic scrap imports from 2025

By Dat Nguyen March 26, 2019 | 09:13 pm PT

A woman sorts out recyclable plastic soft drink bottles at Xa Cau Village, outside Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo by Reuters/Kham

Vietnam will not import plastic scrap from 2025 and will deal with the scrap consignments stuck at ports, the government has said.

It has ordered the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to work with other government bodies to eliminate unnecessary procedures which are delaying their delivery.

Customs data shows almost 21,600 containers of scrap remain uncleared at ports as of February 22, 44 percent of them for more than three months.

The government instructed the environment ministry to issue environmental safety certificates to eligible containers so that their importers could use them to manufacture products. All imports of plastic scrap as feedstock would cease on December 31, 2024, it said.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc ordered to scrap imports temporarily last July, saying Vietnam must not become a dumping ground for other countries’ scrap, leaving thousands of containers stuck at ports for months.

His orders followed a surge in imports in the first six months after China banned imports of certain wastes.

But steel, paper and plastic industries have expressed concern since they need to import metal, paper and plastic scrap as feedstock.

Vietnam imported 9.2 million tons of scrap last year, up 14 percent from 2017, according to Vietnam Customs.