A new carton recycling initiative promises to recover and recycle 3,000 tonnes of Vietnam’s used beverage cartons. The scheme, ‘the Circular Action Programme (CAP)’, will take place in Ho Chi Minh City, running until March 2023.
Announced by BVRio group’s Circular Action, alongside Tetra Pak and the Packaging Recycling Organisation Vietnam (PRO Vietnam), the scheme will use an app to manage carton collections in collaboration with local beverage and food manufacturers.
The initiative is also expected to create jobs for around 200 informal waste pickers, who will be responsible for collecting the cartons.
According to the partners, the Circular Action Programme (CAP) is a customised service based on engaging all actors in the waste supply chain and providing incentives for collection, sorting and recycling of waste materials.
Traceability and monitoring tools, such as the KOLEKT app and reporting platforms, will enable the scheme to register all actors across the supply chain, ensuring full traceability.
The scheme was developed from BVRio’s 2020 ‘feasibility study’ for Tetra Pak, which examined strategies for the collection and recycling of used beverage cartons in both Vietnam and India.
Results from the study indicated that informal waste pickers are crucial to carton collection programmes, and that a project design that neglects informal collectors could potentially destroy their jobs. PRO Vietnam will therefore provide additional incentives to aggregators and recyclers to process the cartons, aiming to pass these benefits onto the waste pickers through higher prices for collected materials.
The programme will begin by paying larger waste collection centres an incentive fee for all tonnes of Tetra Pak cartons sold to paper recycler Dong Tien Paper, to be recycled into brown paper and into chipboard or corrugated roofing.
Large collection centres (waste aggregators) will receive a performance based payment per kg sold, which is expected to be passed onto waste pickers in order to secure supply.
Mr. Eliseo Barcas, Managing Director of Tetra Pak Vietnam, commented: “Promoting the collection of used beverage cartons for recycling has always been at the core of Tetra Pak's sustainable development. By doing this, we aim to realise our promise to protect what’s good, including protecting food, protecting people and protecting the planet.”
Mr. Pham Phu Ngoc Trai, Chairman of PRO Vietnam, also said: “We appreciate the initiative, the model and the effectiveness of the collection for recycling of Used Beverage Carton projects from Tetra Pak – one of our core members.
“Hence, we would like to collaborate to execute this pilot project with the expectation to open a new model in collection for recycling of UBC – a material that faced a lot of challenges in collection, supporting the informal sector playing in this value chain, and promoting the circular economy in Viet Nam.
“We believe that the pilot project will be successful and serve as a foundation to increase carton collection and recycling in the coming years. Besides, we will also utilise this initiative as a typical example to apply the collection for recycling of other packaging materials.
“This will be our flagship project, reconfirm our commitment in execution of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) – which will be effective in early 2024. PRO VN believes, together, we will make our Viet Nam Green – Clean – Beautiful.”
Thierry Sanders, Circular Action Director, added: “This project has the potential to be transformational for all involved. This project brings a triple-dividend of firstly preventing waste going to landfills or nature; then it increases the incomes of waste pickers and finally creates cooperation throughout the supply chain.
“Tetra Pak is the perfect partner willing to pilot this innovative way of working, involving mobile technology. PRO Vietnam now has the method to grow waste collection across Vietnam for the decades to come.”
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