Vietnamese people waste more than 300,000 tons of plastic and cardboard when buying online

“E-commerce causes many harmful effects to the environment, including the use of packaging in the packaging and order fulfillment stages,” Mr. Doan Quoc Tam – consulting expert of the International Organization for the Environment (WWF) shared. shared at the workshop Trends in sustainable e-commerce development in the digital era, November 21.

Mr. Tam cited data from postal units saying that by 2023, Vietnamese e-commerce will deliver more than 1.8 billion packages, using 160,000 tons of cardboard and 145,000 tons of all kinds of plastic (foam, anti-aging nylon foam). shock, plastic bag…).

“There are many small, low-value orders in online purchases. The proportion of packaging on goods is much higher than transactions on traditional channels,” Mr. Tam said.

Talk to VnExpressWWF experts shared that orders of 1,000 VND and 0 VND shipping fee have a negative impact in stimulating irresponsible shopping. Because for low value orders, with only one product, the seller must also package it into one package.

Besides, impulsive shopping habits also harm the environment when many orders arise, even divided into multiple times.

Spontaneity is one of the many characteristics of shoppers on e-commerce platforms, according to Dang Thuy Ha – Northern Regional Director of NielsenIQ Vietnam.

According to a survey by NielsenIQ, 37% of consumers in the Asia-Pacific region do not plan shopping for their most recent online transaction. 47% of respondents do not participate in online shopping programs due to fear of losing control of their purchases.

Ms. Ha added that consumers often make decisions very quickly when buying low-value products. And when the driver calls for delivery, they don’t understand when they chose to buy it.

Vietnam’s e-commerce market size is estimated at 22 billion USD, ranking third in Southeast Asia, according to the “e-Economy SEA 2024” report by Google, Temasek, Bain & Company. It is forecast that by 2030, the Vietnamese market will grow on average more than 19% per year and reach 63 billion USD, surpassing Thailand and ranking second in the region after Indonesia.

Rapid market growth comes with environmental concerns. Mr. Tam said the amount of plastic used in packaging in Vietnam is 2.7 times higher than in China.

With 1 billion packages of goods purchased online, China uses 157,000 tons of packaging, plastic accounting for more than 18%. Meanwhile, Vietnam uses up to 166,000 tons of packaging, more than half of which is plastic of all kinds.

However, Vietnam currently does not have criteria or standards for green services and products. This is a barrier in encouraging sustainable development of e-commerce platforms, such as TikTok Shop.

Mr. Nguyen Lam Thanh – General Director of TikTok Vietnam Technology Co., Ltd. said that when planning to support the sustainable development program, they did not find criteria to determine what is a green or sustainable product.

For example, a startup’s new products talk about being green, but the business cannot prove sustainability or that the product reduces carbon emissions. “For example, do paper straws really emit less carbon than plastic straws?”, Mr. Thanh asked, adding that when there are no standards, organizing a large program could unintentionally promote the subject. profiteering.

To move towards a sustainable and environmentally friendly e-commerce market, Mr. Doan Quoc Tam said that authorities need to develop a set of green regulations and standards for businesses to implement.

As for the management agency, Ms. Le Hoang Oanh, Director of the Department of E-Commerce and Digital Economy, said that they are advising on building a set of flexible criteria in e-commerce development, submitting to the Government in time. next. This is to guide the e-commerce market in Vietnam to develop sustainably based on the balance of three economic, social and environmental factors.