Economy

Part 3: Pioneering enterprises towards sustainable production

PV Group • November 1, 2025 15:21

The wave of “greening” production is spreading, turning the commitment to environmental protection into concrete actions, especially in the search for new materials and new technologies to reduce plastic in all stages. This trend shows that Vietnamese businesses are entering a new phase: considering sustainable development as an opportunity to innovate, enhance the brand and contribute to realizing the country’s Net Zero goal.

Author: PV Group - Publication date: November 1, 2025

The wave of “greening” production is spreading, turning the commitment to environmental protection into concrete actions, especially in the search for new materials and new technologies to reduce plastic in all stages. This trend shows that Vietnamese businesses are entering a new phase: considering sustainable development as an opportunity to innovate, enhance the brand and contribute to realizing the country’s Net Zero goal.

In Nghe An, the awareness of reducing plastic is gradually creeping into every business, every coffee shop, and every store. Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai Hien - owner of the Shop 50 Dong branch shared: “Based on my concern for the environment and the desire to recycle and reduce waste, I decided to bring the Shop 50 Dong social enterprise model to Nghe An. Here, people can bring unused items to receive necessary items for a symbolic cost of 50,000 VND (abbreviated as 50 VND) for an order of their choice. This model is receiving more and more attention from everyone because of its meaning and practicality. The amount of plastic waste from diapers, milk, household items, and items reused from this model is huge - that is also what makes me proud of this job”.

On a larger scale, at the 2024 "Green Fashion" contest for union members and workers, the message of environmental protection has had a strong impact on hundreds of businesses and thousands of workers in the Southeast Economic Zone and Nghe An industrial parks. Sharing about the event, Ms. Hoang Ha - Chairman of the Trade Union of Gaiwach Vietnam International Apparel Co., Ltd. said: "We are proud that each product in the contest reflects 100% of the company's spirit of environmental protection. All products are sewn from leftover fabric, recycled from discarded materials, created with passion and responsibility. At our company, workers understand that every piece of fabric, every plastic bag, every meter of rope... is used economically and scientifically to reduce the amount of waste, especially plastic waste".

The trend of searching for environmentally friendly materials to replace plastic is becoming a prominent movement in Vietnam. This is not only a solution to the pressure of plastic waste pollution, but also an opportunity for businesses and startups to demonstrate their creativity and stay ahead of the global "green" trend. The most popular direction today is to take advantage of agricultural by-products, organic waste or natural fibers to create new materials: easily biodegradable, low-emission and recyclable.

Known as one of the pioneers in using green materials, Mr. Thai Khac Tien (45 years old, from Nghe An) has spent a lot of time, effort and money to build the brand "Green Footprint" in the capital Hanoi. Accordingly, Mr. Tien has turned his concern about the mountain of milk carton trash into an inspiring recycling journey by collecting discarded milk cartons to "revive" them into useful products such as flower pots, coasters, table tops, chairs, etc. The recycling journey is not simple because the complex materials of paper, aluminum, and polymer make the product easy to bend, dirty, and difficult to handle. In addition, with limited capital, making his own machinery to separate the components is quite expensive. But with faith and perseverance, he succeeded after two years of research, then spent another four years building the factory. Now, his business is confident in bringing green products with high quality to consumers, creating a certain influence and receiving support from the community of people who care about the environment.

Also in the greening trend, at the end of 2024, the Center for Natural Resources and Environment Communication, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in collaboration with Vietnam Economic Magazine organized the contest "Startup - Creating solutions for green growth and sustainable development". From the participation of many young businesses and long-standing names, the organizing committee selected 18 best projects to award prizes. Startups in the contest took advantage of difficult-to-recycle packaging, natural materials such as coconut fiber, coffee husks or rice husks to produce biological pallets instead of plastic and wood; or startup groups used beer residue, sugarcane bagasse, starch to make packaging, knives, spoons, biodegradable straws... At this contest, the group of authors from Nghe An Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection impressed with the project "Using by-products in cultivation and livestock to produce one-time organic fertilizer for rice to completely replace chemical fertilizers".

The common point of these initiatives is to solve two problems at the same time: reducing plastic waste, utilizing agricultural waste, and at the same time creating new economic value and opening up a green supply chain for farmers and raw material areas. Although there are many challenges in terms of cost, technology and market awareness, the movement to create environmentally friendly materials is showing a positive direction, stirring up the spirit of innovation to bring Vietnam closer to the goal of a circular economy and sustainable development.

In the context of the Vietnamese Government's commitment to achieving Net Zero goals and expanding the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Program, TH Group has taken the lead with drastic strategies to reduce plastic in production and promote packaging collection, moving towards a circular economy.

According to Ms. Hoang Thi Thanh Thuy - Director of Sustainable Development of the Group, all of TH's activities operate according to the philosophy of "Cherishing Mother Nature". In the face of the global plastic pollution problem, TH not only makes a commitment but also takes practical actions. Two annual initiatives, "TH Group joins hands for a green, clean Vietnam", are proof of that commitment.

Specifically, since 2023, Nui Tien Pure Water, Herbal and Fruit Factory (Nghia Lam commune) has applied an initiative to reduce the weight of plastic bottle blanks. In particular, the fruit juice line has reduced the weight of the bottle blank by 12%; purified water has reduced the weight of the bottle blank by 8-17%, depending on the capacity. As a result, a total of 500 tons of plastic has been reduced, equivalent to saving nearly 5.9 billion VND per year. In addition, TH Group has invested in advanced technology to completely remove the shrink film (the outer layer of nylon) of the bottle caps of 100% of TH true WATER bottled purified water products, helping to reduce 4 tons of plastic per year - equivalent to saving 4.2 billion VND/year. TH has also reduced the thickness of bottle labels by 30%, specifically from 50 micrometers to 35 micrometers on some beverage product lines (this is considered the thinnest plastic label in Vietnam to date), helping to reduce 21 tons of plastic in 2023. In addition, for many years now, TH has replaced disposable plastic bags at the TH true mart system with bags made from bioplastic, produced yogurt spoons from biodegradable materials, and used food wraps made from more environmentally friendly materials.

Not only that, the Group's annual campaign "Collect cartons - spread green living" has directly made a strong impression on customers when coordinating with recycling units to collect milk cartons to produce useful and environmentally friendly products such as hangers, planters, ecological roofing sheets, etc. In 2024, TH true MILK's campaign "Collect cartons - spread green living" collected more than 4.2 tons of packaging, more than double the previous year. Since 2025, this program has been expanded in scope, present in 3 localities: Hanoi, Nghe An and Ho Chi Minh City.

As a loyal customer of TH milk brand, Ms. Le Na (Thanh Vinh ward) shared: “Since knowing about TH’s program “Collect cartons – Spread green living”, the whole family has a “small habit”: washing, folding and bringing to the collection point. As a mother, I find that this program not only helps protect the environment, but also helps me teach my children about responsibility through specific actions, and I can see the results right away.”

Similarly, Vinamilk has been promoting initiatives to reduce plastic and recycle in a friendly and easy-to-spread way. The program "Pretty Reborn Shell" launched in June 2024 at stores in major cities has attracted a large number of consumers. At the same time, Vinamilk has also proactively reduced plastic in packaging and distribution, specifically: Removing film from yogurt boxes, reducing accompanying plastic spoons, using environmentally friendly bags in stores and encouraging customers to bring cloth bags... These efforts show that Vinamilk is not stopping at slogans but is gradually turning environmental protection responsibility into action, connecting businesses - customers - communities in the journey of reducing plastic and moving towards sustainable development.

The efforts of large enterprises are showing that the movement to reduce plastic and recycle is no longer a slogan but has become a concrete action with measurable results. From improving packaging, production technology to community campaigns, the two "big guys" are contributing to forming green consumption habits, arousing environmental responsibility in each customer. This is also proof of the sustainable development trend that is spreading in Vietnamese enterprises, when economic benefits are linked to social values, towards a Net Zero future and a healthy living environment for the next generation.