Plastic bags and disposable plastic products are difficult to biodegrade, causing great threat to human health, the environment and ecosystems on Earth.

According to researchers, it takes up to thousands of years for plastic bags to biodegrade in natural environment. In Vietnam, about 30 billion disposable plastic bags are used and discarded every year, of which only 17% are recycled and reused.

This causes heavy environmental pollution, becoming a condition for pathogens to multiply and develop.

The technical workshop “Single-use plastics and their impacts on health” aims to provide information on the link of plastic and health. This is also an opportunity to discuss research results to communicate about behavioral change on consumption of single-use plastic products.

The workshop is one of the side events of the exhibition "Plastic Tale of River", organized by ISPONRE and the Dutch Embassy in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund Vietnam (WWF Vietnam), National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP) and other plastic waste reduction partners, held at the Goethe-Institut Vietnam from February 15^th to March 15^th, 2022.

Mr. Nguyen Trung Thang, Deputy Director of Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment, said: “The Plastic and Health Action Partnership has been established to play the role of connecting existing networks related to plastic waste in Vietnam through a common playground with the participation of 20 organizations/initiatives related to plastic and health”.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Vinh, Secretary General of PHA, shared: “Through this workshop, we hope that stakeholders will have a more informed view of the impact of plastic waste pollution on health and the environment".

Mr. Steffen Kaupp, Deputy Director of Goethe-Institut affirmed: “Communication plays an important role in raising public awareness about reducing plastic waste. Germany's experiences in building and conducting communication activities will hopefully be suggestions for parties, especially Vietnamese NGOs, in the coming time"./.