Vietnam to Encourage Paper Recycling

The Vietnam Pulp &Paper Association (VPPA), Tetra Park and the Institute for Industrial Policy under the Ministry of Industry and Trade are building a policy to encourage paper recycling, the Thoi bao Kinh te Sai gon newspaper reported Dec. 7. Dr. Vu Ngoc Bao, general secretary of VPPA said that Vietnam consumes 1.8 million tons of paper each year but the domestic pulp production can provide only 1.13 million tons, and the country has to import near 0.7 million tons. The recycled paper meets 70% of the domestic production but half of the recycled paper is imported as the paper recycling rate of the country is too low at 24%-25% while the paper recycling rates in Thailand, China, Japan and South Korea are 65%, 31%, 61.4% and 67%, respectively.