Tetra Pak and VECA cooperate to expand the collection of used beverage carton in 18 districts of Ho Chi Minh City
From October 2022, used beverage carton will be expanded to collect through the VECA app in 18 districts of Ho Chi Minh City, increased by 04 districts compared to the first phase of implementation. The four districts present in the expanded list are all very large districts of the city including: Tan Phu, Go Vap, Binh Tan and Thu Duc. At the same time, Tetra Pak and VECA also coordinated to set up additional collection points for used beverage carton at 10 apartments in the city, including: Screc Building, Saigon Avenue, Phu Tho, Kien Thanh Trade Center, Celadon City, The Splendor, Khang Gia, Starlight Riverside, Ha Do, Topaz Garden & Center. It is expected that, in 6 months of network expansion, the amount of used beverage carton collected through the Veca app will reach 6 tons.
“We committed to building a low-carbon, circular economy across all Tetra Pak operations in Vietnam. In particular, the cooperation with recyclers to expand the network of used beverage carton collection as well as support beverage and food manufacturers to fulfill the expanded responsibility of the producer (EPR) are activities focused on implementing by Tetra Pak. Through our partnership with VECA, we aim to collect used beverage carton anywhere, anytime and create a culture of recycling used beverage carton in the community,” she said. Luong Thanh Thu - Sustainability Manager of Tetra Pak Vietnam said.
Before that, at the end of 2021, used beverage cartons were added to the collection list of the VECA digital application on smartphones. Similar to the technology car-hailing model, VECA helps connect people who want to sell scrap with scrap buyers in the nearest distance, with public and transparent prices. Phase 1 of implementing used beverage carton collection on the application has shown positive results. By the end of August 2022, there had been a total of over 7,300 orders for buying and selling of scraps made through the Veca app, including over 2 tons of used beverage cartons.
Currently, the purchase price of used beverage carton on the Veca app is 2,000 VND / 1 kg.
“The VECA app was first launched in mid-2020, and we are constantly upgrading to improve the app. Today, VECA has nearly 32,000 users, and we always aim to increase app downloads and usage through expanding our collection portfolio, as well as partnering with manufacturers to make collectors more active and more convenient. The inclusion of used beverage carton in VECA's collection has helped us to significantly increase the number of users. We hope that the expansion of the collection network in large districts this time will encourage more waste pickers and collectors to use the application, thereby getting closer to the goal of a free-waste Vietnam." Mr. Bui The Bao - Founder of VECA shared.
Currently, Tetra Pak is actively implementing many activities towards a circular economy model with low greenhouse gas emissions in Vietnam. The company works closely with recycling partners to increase the capacity and quality of recycled products, including an investment of 1.2 million euros in Dong Tien paper factory with the goal of upgrading and expanding the recycling capacity of used beverage cartons at the factory from 9,000 tons/year to 17,000 tons/year.
In 2022, Tetra Pak has cooperated with PRO Vietnam and Circular Action to pilot a model of purchasing used beverage carton in Ho Chi Minh City from August 2022 to March 2023, with the goal of purchasing and completely recycling 3,000 tons of used beverage carton into useful products such as paperboard materials and ecological roofing. Besides, the company also constantly cooperates closely with partners, especially big names in the retail industry such as AEONMALL, MM Mega Market to expand the network of public used beverage carton collection, bringing the total number of used beverage carton collection points is up to 76 points nationwide.