Cleaning up plastic waste with wood plastic composite production

The solution of using recycled plastic is part of the "Integrating Resilience to Climate Change and Environmental Protection to Develop Green Cities" project, launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment. The PCC-1 Wood Plastic Composite One-Member Co., Ltd. (PCC-1 WPC) is currently piloting a technological model for producing wood plastic composite (WPC) using the extrusion method.

Accordingly, recycled plastic pellets are combined with wood powder and suitable additives to produce WPC for products such as doors, flooring panels, and interior–exterior construction and decorative materials. Results show that the production process operates stably, and the products meet physical and mechanical standards, with up to 95% of output achieving technical specifications.

Throughout the production process, all scraps and offcuts are collected, crushed, and reused directly at the workshop, contributing to raw material savings and waste reduction. On average, the pilot factory consumes about 17.3 tons of recycled plastic per month, equivalent to over 200 tons annually. The combination of wood powder and stone powder (CaCO₃) significantly reduces the need for virgin plastic, thereby saving fossil resources, cutting CO₂ emissions, and transforming the plastic volume that would otherwise pose a high risk of becoming non-degradable waste in the environment into valuable materials.

If operated at full capacity, the production line is expected to yield approximately 120,000 meters of WPC annually, equivalent to recycling and reusing about 400 tons of plastic waste.

In addition to environmental efficiency, the pilot project has also delivered notable socio-economic impacts, including creating stable jobs for workers, improving skills through an automated production line, and providing a sustainable output for suppliers of recycled plastic pellets.

According to Mr. Le Hoai Nam, Deputy Director of the Project, the application of WPC production technology using recycled plastic pellets not only brings economic benefits but also helps address the plastic waste problem, aligning with the trend of cleaner production and a circular economy. The success of this pilot serves as an important foundation for replicating the model across localities, thereby contributing to solving one of today’s most pressing environmental issues: plastic waste.

According to the Report on Plastic Waste Generation in 2022, Viet Nam produces nearly 3 million tons of plastic waste annually, about 18% of which is not collected. This results in a large amount of plastic waste leaking into the environment, causing microplastic pollution in soil, water, air, and sediments. This increases the risk of environmental contamination and impacts human health and wildlife. The WPC solution using recycled plastics will fully use uncollected plastic waste, which still accounts for a significant loss in Viet Nam.

The "Integrating Resilience to Climate Change and Environmental Protection to Develop Green Cities" project is a cooperative activity between the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), implemented through the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the period 2020–2025. The project goal is to strengthen institutional capacity, develop and complete environmental protection policies, and enhance resilience to climate change.

The project comprises four components, including developing a national policy framework for environmental protection and climate resilience; piloting sustainable urban development solutions in Ha Giang, Hue, and Vinh Yen (former); establishing new financial solutions for climate risk prevention in Hue; and strengthening and supporting the development of integrated environmental and climate-adaptive planning at the provincial and city levels.