WASTE IS NOT OVER

With a bearing capacity of more than several hundred kilograms, recycled paper can replace wooden pallets used in export, or make doors, soundproof walls, furniture,...

     Recycled paper is shredded, then mixed with some other ingredients, then frozen, thawed and dried. The above not too complicated stages have been approved by a group of students of the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City is innovative to recycle waste paper into a porous material, capable of absorbing 17 times its weight of oil. This invention is being further researched with the expectation that it will contribute to solving oil spills, the cause of the death of millions of marine creatures every year.

     This is just a small example of the applications that the recycling industry can bring. However, "waste resources" are still an unexplored field in Vietnam.

     In the United States, waste recycling is considered a growing industry, creating jobs for more than 460,000 people and bringing in profits equal to the level earned by all professional sports teams in the country. In Asia, few people know that the vibrant economic zone of Incheon, where the famous international airport is located, is also the largest waste treatment complex in Korea. Or the island of Odaiba in Japan is a huge garbage dump, renovated and planted with trees to become a beautiful artificial island. That said, in developed countries, the recycling industry has long been in tandem with the economy and has become a factor in the natural resource cycle.

     VIBRANT WASTE RECYCLING

     To evaluate the efficiency of the recycling industry, it is necessary to consider the input factor of the industry is solid waste. In Vietnam, the amount of solid waste in urban areas in 2015 was estimated at 20 million tons. In which, most of the waste is left in open landfills or improperly buried, leading to pollution of water sources and soil environment.

     At the macro level, many policies of the State in recent years are showing a focus on waste treatment. In addition to the goal of achieving a waste utilization rate of 85% by 2020, a series of policies issued in the past year are also attracting the attention of businesses to this "copper" investment industry. For example, The Prime Minister has forced manufacturers to be responsible for recalling and disposing of discarded electronic products. Or the preferential corporate income tax policy for environmental protection activities applied since 2016, is also encouraging more businesses to pay more attention to investing in the environment, industries that are considered to have high investment capital, low profits.

     ARE RECYCLED PRODUCTS WELL RECEIVED BY THE MARKET?

     It can be seen that the recycling industry is attracting the attention of many investors. But will these efforts be well received by the market? The answer is yes, but more time is needed.

     In the packaging industry, in the past, recycled paper was only used to produce paper bags or cartons. Currently, many applications in commerce and architecture are being developed from this seemingly useless paper.

     Assessing consumption demand, Mr. Nguyen Tuan Minh, General Director of Miza Joint Stock Company, said that every day, this enterprise produces more than 3 tons of paper made from recycled materials to meet domestic demand. The paper packaging industry was thought to be saturated, but this new development direction is bringing profits of about 5-10% to manufacturers and is forecast to develop sustainably in the future.

     Although there is no massive growth, positive signs of change in both input and output of the recycling industry are receiving expectations and attention from investors in the coming time.