‘Greening’ businesses to widen the export road

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Many domestic enterprises have "transformed" to adapt and meet environmental requirements to increase export capacity. Source: Internet.

The requirements are getting more and more strict

According to the Vietnam Plastics Association, the challenge for businesses today is that many of Vietnam's major import markets have increased requirements for using environmentally friendly materials for product packaging. In particular, the EPR regulation - extended responsibility of the manufacturer is also a matter of concern. This regulation does not stop at products, but extends to post-consumer waste management. This forces businesses to find ways to reduce the amount of waste in the environment and increase the ability to recycle and reuse.

Similarly, textile enterprises also said that markets in many European countries are setting regulations on textiles and garments exported to the European market must have a long life, and can be reused and repairable. This requires manufacturing businesses to use recycled, environmentally friendly fibers.

According to experts, these requirements pose problems for businesses in terms of technology innovation, design improvement and product quality. This requires a systematic and comprehensive combination of technical, legal and environmental expertise. Although it can be costly in the early stages, in the long run, this response will help create added value for products, enhancing the position of Vietnamese enterprises in the international market.

Businesses gradually adapt

Understanding the above requirements and recommendations, many businesses have quickly "rolled in" to meet the requirements, ensuring to maintain the export market.

For example, An Phat Holdings Group Joint Stock Company (APH) has invested and researched into becoming the enterprise to successfully produce fully biodegradable products. APH's AnEco product line is made from PLA (derived from corn starch, a typical renewable material) and other imported biodegradable materials, so will be completely biodegradable. An APH representative said that since 2019, the company has invested in an enterprise in South Korea, which is one of the few enterprises in the world that owns the copyright on completely biodegradable product materials. APH has become the only Vietnamese enterprise with the technological know-how and inventing products of completely biodegradable materials. As a result, APH has a great advantage in exporting this product line to the world, including major markets such as France, Romania, Italy, Australia, and the US.

With this success, APH said that it is planning to build an AnBio fully biodegradable material factory in Nam Dinh Vu Industrial Park, Hai Phong. The plant, with a capacity of over 20,000 tons/year, is expected to be completed by the end of 2021, leading to a great ability to reduce the cost of fully biodegradable products.

Also to meet export requirements, Mr. Than Duc Viet, General Director of Garment 10 Corporation, said that by 2025, the company aims to switch to using raw materials of natural origin and raw materials in order to meet green and circular production, to catch up with the trend that importers from Europe, the US, and Japan require.

According to information from the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), by 2023, textile enterprises that are members of the VITAS Sustainability Committee will reduce their energy consumption by 15% and water consumption by 20%. These are all criteria to improve the competitiveness of businesses, as well as participate more deeply in the global supply chain.

For businesses in the field of agriculture and forestry, the "greening" must originate from high standards in raw material areas, production, and by-products and waste treatment. For example, at Luong Quoi Coconut Processing Company, the company's coconut products still maintain exports with an annual growth rate of about 20%. To maintain this stability, the company said that it has invested heavily in production lines, increased factory capacity, updated modern equipment and improved models applied to production, helping the company's products meet the requirements of fastidious customers in the world, and meeting technical barriers from major markets such as the United States, Canada, Europe, Korea, and Japan.