To stay competitive and ensure the marketability of their products, enterprises need to switch to packaging that meets sustainability requirements and is easily recyclable as more and more consumers become aware of environment safety, a conference heard in Ho Chi Minh City on December 22.

Nguyen Nhu Khue, CEO of Lotus Chemical Technology Co., said packaging serves multiple functions but causes environmental damage over the course of its life cycle.

With the concept of the circular economy becoming more influential, designing packaging specifically to be recycled is becoming a vital part of the packaging process, he said.

Sustainable packaging makes use of materials and manufacturing methods that have a significantly low impact on both energy consumption and the environment, he said.

Reducing the weight and volume of packaging to the minimum necessary while ensuring product safety and hygiene is a trend in e-commerce and shipping, he said.

Late last month, the EU Commission proposed regulations on packaging and packaging waste that impose mandatory rates of recycled content that producers have to include in new plastic packaging, specify standardisation for some packaging formats and ban certain forms of packaging among other things.

Exporters need to monitor the market closely to keep up with markets’ requirements, Khue said.

Besides quality and price, packaging is also an important element that influences consumers’ buying decision, delegates said.

According to some studies, consumers nowadays focus on plant-based products, products with good elements for health, indigenous products, and environmental protection.

Nguyen Thi Xuan Yen, a sustainable development researcher and practitioner, said people are expressing their concern about sustainability through changes in lifestyle and product choices.

A study done by Global Scan pointed out that consumers in the Asia-Pacific region expect to buy more from socially and environmentally responsible companies post-pandemic, she said.

The top three ways that companies/brands can help facilitate consumers’ healthy and sustainable lifestyles include providing products and services that last for a long time, helping consumers save energy and water with their products and ensuring that all packaging is recyclable, reusable or contains recycled content.

The conference was organised by the Business Association of Vietnamese High-Quality Products and the Vietnam Plastics Association./.