Duy Tan Plastics Corporation has announced its $60 million-investment, the first green credit from HSBC to a Vietnamese company, to build a plastics recycling factory in Long An. It is a huge amount of capital compared to the scale of Vietnam's old and low-tech recycling industry.
Talking to TheLEADER, CEO of Duy Tan Plastics Recycling Company Huynh Ngoc Thach said that the project of building a factory producing renewable plastics has been officially implemented since 2018 when Duy Tan had favorable conditions in finance, human resources and technology.
In addition, some of Duy Tan's customers which are large FMCG enterprises in Vietnam as Pepsico, Coca Cola, Nestlé, La Vie, Castrol, suggested the company do recycling, cause they need a strong recycler to fulfill their commitment to the government, and to test the market for products with recycled packaging.
Plastic pollution that has become one of the most pressing environmental issues is other factors making Duy Tan started the project. Thach emphasized that as a leading plastic manufacturer, the company has responsibility to take the lead in the recycling industry.
“As a member of Packaging Recycling Organization Vietnam (PRO Vietnam), an organization with a vision to build a circular economy for the packaging industry, Duy Tan wants to make a positive contribution to Vietnam's circular economy, and make the country become one of leaders in handling pressing plastic waste problem," Thach told TheLEADER.
Acknowledging the difficulties in recycling industry, Thach is confident that Duy Tan can overcome all, thanking its over 30 years of experience in plastic manufacturing, modern technology and high-skilled labour.
For example, it has bottles-to-bottles technology to make recycled plastic pellets meet all standards, from physical, chemical to food safety and hygiene, and then, using them to create new plastic bottle.
In some countries, a product can be recycled up to 50 times when the technology is applied, meaning that the life cycle of plastic materials is extended by more than 50 times.
It is remarkable that 100 per cent of Duy Tan Plastics Recycling Company's input scrap is domestic waste that collected from its own collection system.
It also supported the informal waste collection labour, for example, through cooperation with Unilever and VietCycle in "Reviving plastic waste" project helping female workers by providing information or giving labor protection equipment.
Up to now, Duy Tan is one of a few companies producing qualified recycled plastic particles for export to the US of which over 1,000 tons have been sent to the Washington for producing mineral water bottles.
In domestic market, there have been some multinational companies using Duy Tan's product for its packaging.
The outlook of recycled plastics is expected to be positive, especially since 2024 when the EPR tool is officially applied to the packaging industry.
