E-commerce progress requires greener tint

According to a report on e-commerce in Southeast Asia by Momentum Works released last week, Vietnam has surpassed the Philippines in e-commerce, behind Indonesia and Thailand, with a total gross merchandise value increase of 52.9 per cent.

E-commerce progress requires greener tint, Photo: Shutterstock

Vietnamese e-commerce has grown continuously with an average growth rate of 16-30 per cent per year in the past four years, the highest growth rate in the world, the report emphasised.

“The competitive landscape of e-commerce in Southeast Asia remains dynamic and constantly transforming,” said Jianggan Li, founder and CEO of Momentum Works. “With markets like Vietnam and Thailand showing remarkable growth and platforms like TikTok Shop rapidly expanding, it’s clear that innovation and adaptation are key to success in this region.”

Despite the growth, developing e-commerce with a focus on green and sustainability factors will be a vital part of Vietnam’s comprehensive e-commerce development plan for the 2026-2030 period.

Hoang Ninh, digital government head at the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said the goal for the next five years is to halve the proportion of plastic packaging used on e-commerce platforms, increase the proportion of products using recyclable packaging materials by half, and have at least 50 per cent of enterprises apply green packaging standards.

“Starting from 2026, Vietnam will not manufacture and import biodegradable plastic bags smaller than 50x50cm and with a thickness of less than 50 micrometres, except for those used for export, production, import for packaging products, and goods sold on the market,” Ninh said.

In addition, the production and import of single-use plastic products, biodegradable plastic packaging, and goods containing microplastics will gradually decrease, paving the way for the complete cessation of production or importation after 2030.

“This regulation will directly impact all e-commerce platforms and hundreds of thousands of online traders. However, the unfortunate reality is that many e-commerce platforms and traders are unaware of or indifferent to it,” Ninh said.

According to a report on plastic packaging waste from e-commerce in Vietnam in 2023 by WWF Vietnam, approximately 90 per cent of clothing, fashion, and accessory businesses use cardboard boxes and plastic bags for packaging.

Most orders also use plastic tape, with about 30-35 per cent of orders using packing materials such as foam and bubble wrap. For food delivery services, almost all packaging and accompanying materials such as knives, forks, and spoons are made of plastic, with an average weight of 45g for drinks and 63g for food items.

“Plastic packaging is very cheap and light, saving shipping costs compared to cardboard boxes, so its usage frequency is high,” the report said. “In 2023, it is estimated that e-commerce in Vietnam used 332,000 tonnes of packaging, of which plastic packaging accounted for 171,000 tonnes.”

Nguyen Thanh Hung, chairman of the Vietnam E-commerce Association, admitted that plastic packaging waste is one of the downsides of e-commerce. Its impact is not only limited to Vietnam but also extends to many other countries.

“In South Korea, e-commerce waste is 4.8 times higher than traditional commerce,” Hung said. “In the United States, online shopping wastes seven times more cardboard than traditional shopping, and in China, with over 70 billion e-commerce transactions, 11 million tonnes of cardboard and plastic packaging waste and nearly two million tonnes of plastic waste are used annually.”

In Vietnam, online retail in 2023 used approximately 1.84 billion parcels, including 306,000 tonnes of packaging materials, plastics.

“With the market scale expected to increase by 4.7 times from current levels, e-commerce will generate about 800,000 tonnes of plastic waste by 2030. At that time, the environmental impact will not only stop at waste but also its location,” Nguyen predicted.

He added that coastal areas or areas with large rivers flowing into the sea such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Haiphong, Hue, Danang, Can Tho, and Nha Trang are also strongholds for e-commerce development. If plastic waste generated from online shopping activities is not collected, recycled, or disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner, it will continue to flow into the sea, causing marine pollution.

“Solving the issue of such pollution on the e-commerce platform is a very ambitious goal that requires significant efforts from all stakeholders, but it is time to enact policies to promote its sustainable development and environmental friendliness,” he said.

According to Ninh from the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy, the comprehensive national e-commerce development plan for the 2026-2030 period has set a roadmap for developing a national sustainable e-commerce criteria framework for enterprises in this sector to apply and self-assess.

“Enterprises and consumers will be the main force in developing sustainable e-commerce. The state will play a role in management, infrastructure construction, and creating conditions for the sustainable development of e-commerce,” Ninh said. “Our goal is to achieve a 60 per cent compliance rate among e-commerce enterprises with these criteria,” he added.

Data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade shows that Vietnam’s retail e-commerce market in 2023 reached $20.5 billion, up 25 per cent from 2022. The market size is expected to increase to $35 billion by 2025, accounting for 10 per cent of total consumer goods retail.

Vietnam one of fastest-growing e-commerce markets in Southeast Asia Vietnam is one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets in Southeast Asia, with gross merchandise value (GMV) increases of 52.9 per cent on-year, according to a report by Momentum Works.

Vietnamese spend nearly 150 trillion VND on online shopping Vietnamese consumers spent 143.9 trillion (5.68 billion USD) buying 1.53 million items on five e-commerce platforms in the first half of this year, representing a rise of 54.91 per cent and 65.55 per cent over the same period last year, respectively, according market analysis firm Metric.

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