Vietnam, South Korea to jointly develop resource recycling industrial park

A resource recycling industrial park will be developed in Vietnam as part of ongoing bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and South Korea.

A memorandum of understanding for the project was inked on Tuesday by Vietnam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MonRE) and South Korea’s Ministry of Environment.

The MoU was signed by Vietnam’s Minister of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) Dang Quoc Khanh and South Korean Environment Minister Han Wha Jin in the presence of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Korean counterpart Han Duck Soo in Seoul.

PM Chinh concluded a four-day visit to the Northeast Asian nation on Wednesday.

Development of the resource recycling industrial park is expected to strengthen the recycling industry and circular economy in Vietnam through investment, technology exchange, promotion of renewable energy use and enhancement of benefits for workers in the recycling sector.

Both parties will enhance collaboration in technical work and exchange expertise towards promoting sustainable development of the circular economy and recycling industry, adhering to principles of equality and mutual benefit.

In general, the MoU will support Vietnam in addressing major environmental issues, especially solid waste management.

The MoU signing has happened in the context of the amended Environmental Protection Law and Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP taking effect at the beginning of this year.

Starting January 1, local producers and importers of tires and inner tubes, batteries, motor oil, and paper and board packaging are required to recycle a proportion of the products.

The mandatory recycling requirements apply to producers and importers with annual revenues of VND30 billion ($1.2 million) or annual imports of VND20 billion ($785,780). The minimum recycling rates are 5% of the products sold or imported for tires and inner tubes, 8-12% for batteries and 10-22% for paper-based and board packaging.

According to Vietnam’s environment ministry, the country is one of the 20 largest producers of waste in the world, discharging approximately 60,000 metric tons per day. This is about 2,000 metric tons higher than the global average (based on the annual estimate of 2.12 billion tons).