Vietnam e-commerce generates 300,000 tons of packaging waste in a year

"E-commerce significantly impacts the environment, especially through the use of packaging," Doan Quoc Tam, a consultant for the World Wide Fund for Nature, said at the Sustainable E-Commerce Trends in the Digital Era seminar on Nov. 21.

He cited postal service data showing that in 2023 over 1.8 billion parcels, requiring 160,000 tons of cardboard and 145,000 tons of plastics like foam and bubble wrap, were delivered.

"Online shopping generates numerous small, low-value orders. The packaging-to-product ratio is significantly higher compared to traditional retail."

Speaking to VnExpress, he lamented that promotional strategies like VND1,000 (US$0.04) items and free shipping encourage irresponsible shopping habits.

Sellers need to pack even low-value products individually, contributing to waste, he said.

Vietnam uses 2.7 times the plastic packaging per parcel that China does, he said.

China uses 157,000 tons of packaging (including 18% plastic) for one billion parcels, while Vietnam uses 166,000 tons, with over half being plastic, he added.

People shop for juice in plastic glasses in HCMC, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

Impulse shopping worsens the environmental threat as customers often place multiple orders in smaller, separate packages.

Dang Thuy Ha, northern region director at marketing research firm NielsenIQ Vietnam, said impulse buying is common on e-commerce platforms.

"People often make quick decisions when buying cheap items. Sometimes they even forget they placed the order until the items arrive home."

Vietnam's e-commerce market is valued at $22 billion, making it Southeast Asia's third largest, according to the 2024 e-Economy SEA report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company.

It is projected to grow by over 19% annually to reach $63 billion by 2030 and surpass Thailand into second place in the region behind Indonesia.

According to a NielsenIQ survey, 37% of Asia-Pacific consumers did not plan their most recent online purchases, while 47% avoided buying online because they feared making impulse purchases.

The lack of clear criteria for green products and services hinders efforts to promote sustainable practices on e-commerce platforms.

"When planning sustainability support programs, we at TikTok Vietnam cannot define what qualifies as a green or sustainable product," Nguyen Lam Thanh, general director of the company, admitted.

Startups often claim their products are eco-friendly but fail to provide evidence of reduced carbon emissions or other sustainable attributes.

"Do paper straws emit less carbon than plastic ones?" Thanh asked.

The absence of standard criteria defining sustainable products worries TikTok that it might accidentally promote products falsely labeled as eco-friendly if it organizes a large-scale sustainability event, he said.

To encourage a sustainable e-commerce market, Tam urged the government to establish green standards and guidelines for businesses.

Le Hoang Oanh, director of the department of e-commerce and digital economy, said her agency is drafting criteria for sustainable e-commerce development.

"The aim is to guide Vietnam's e-commerce market toward sustainable growth by balancing economic, social and environmental factors."