Background
Globally, 75 per cent of plastic produced is becoming waste. To help address this, the Plastics Innovation Hub Vietnam (the Hub Vietnam) aims to significantly reduce plastic waste in Vietnam through key stakeholder collaborations and science and innovation excellence.
The Vietnamese Government pledged to reduce the flow of plastics into the ocean by 75 per cent by 2030 in their National Action Plan on Marine Plastic Debris Management. Additionally, the national government created a National Action Plan on Ocean Plastic Waste and has an upcoming nationwide ban on single-use plastics by 2025.
Complementary to this CSIRO's Ending Plastic Waste Mission has a goal of an 80 per cent reduction of plastic entering the Australian environment by 2030.
The Hub Vietnam is an initiative of Aus4Innovation, which is an official development assistance program, sponsored by DFAT, managed and co-funded by CSIRO and the Hanoi Embassy and delivered in strategic partnership with Vietnam's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and with collaboration from the National Plastic Action Partnership and the Vietnam Administration of Seas and Islands (VASI).
The Hub Vietnam expands the reach of Plastics Innovation Hubs in the region, following the launch of a Plastics Innovation Hub in Indonesia in March 2022.
Why is this initiative so important?
Plastic waste is a global problem.
The Hub Vietnam is a vehicle for collaboration, bringing together local communities and governments, business, and investors to undertake action-based projects to reduce the impacts of plastic waste.
The Hub Vietnam enhances stakeholder collaboration, leverage existing investment, attract new sources of funding, and boost innovation capabilities to identify deep-tech opportunities to tackle plastic waste and translate them into real world solutions across the region.
What is the Plastics Innovation Hub Vietnam?
The Hub Vietnam brings together Vietnamese and Australian partners to establish an innovation hub to a focus on reducing plastic pollution and strengthen research collaborations to help identify new approaches in tackling plastic waste across the country.
The aim is to facilitate and provide momentum for self-sustaining multi-sided marketplaces where change can occur by enabling the collaboration between researchers, NGOs, SMEs, start-ups, government, industry and investors, through a series of activities that identify, initiate, build and grow solutions.
The program structure has been designed to facilitate a pathway to upskill the Vietnamese entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem and support a growth journey of early-stage ventures.
The Hub Vietnam will explore three challenge statements during the delivery phase of the program:
- Develop sustainable and viable plastic alternatives.
- Strengthen segregation, collection and recycling systems.
- Establish reliable data capture and enable accessible information.
How are CSIRO involved?
We have a strong network of global research partnerships to build industry links and share world-class science. We are delivering positive impact from science through global collaboration and partnerships including the Plastic Innovation Hubs.
Partnering to combat plastic waste in the Indo-Pacific is in our shared interest. With this in mind, we are proud to facilitate the Hub Vietnam and support the program to deliver strategic, operational and management activities.
The Hub Vietnam builds on the successful Plastics Innovation Hub Indonesia partnership and is part of CSIRO’s Ending Plastic Waste Mission.
Our Ending Plastic Waste Mission plays an important role in shaping the direction and outcomes of the Hub. Our expertise provides a broad range of scientific and technological solutions for the entire plastics supply chain to support government and industry initiatives, eliminate litter and divert plastic waste into a resource.
To find out more about the Plastics Innovation Hub Vietnam and relevant upcoming events, visit Vietnam (ippin.org).