Circular Economy Policies of Some Asian Countries and Recommendations for Vietnam

DOI

10.2991/aebmr.k.211119.045How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Circular economy; sustainable economy; policy; Asian countries; Vietnam

Abstract

In recent years, facing the challenges of climate change, resource depletion, and environmental degradation, many countries around the world are gradually transitioning from a linear economy to a circular economy. Currently, circular economy is considered the best way to address the tradeoffs between economic growth and adverse environmental impacts. Specifically, the circular economy promotes economic development, while reducing resource extraction and minimizing waste disposal. Therefore, the circular economy is regarded as an inevitable transitional trend, which is already taking place in many countries around the world. In fact, the Circular Economy is implemented by Governments through many different policies, but it is all built on the same philosophy, the philosophy of regeneration and restoration.

Research purpose:

The goal of this study is to understand the policies that have been implemented by China, Japan, and South Korea to develop a circular economy model for Vietnam. Several assessments are made to show the key policies and their achieved results. Based on the three pioneer Asian countries’ policies, the author suggests a number of policies for Vietnam to effectively implement this sustainable economic model.

Research motivation:

In Vietnam, climate change, resource depletion and increasing waste are now major challenges. After many years of extraction, natural resources are on the verge of exhaustion, turning Vietnam into a net importer of coal. In addition, industrialization is taking place strongly, creating the huge amount of waste, especially solid waste. These problems have been creating great pressures on Vietnam’s economy, calling for the needs to change the development model.

Research design, approach and method:

The previous literature has been systematically investigated and here is the summary of the process of studying Circular Economic research: Formulating the research question; Determining search methods; Identifying keywords; Running the search; Reading all articles’; Analyzing data. Following the development of the research question, electronic databases including Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar were identified as data sources. In addition, government databases were also included. Keywords such as “circular economy”, “waste disposal”, “resource efficiency”, and “circular economy policies” were used to find relevant studies. For instance, more than 200,000 thousand published articles (from 2000 to 2021) on Google Scholar were generated by the search entry “circular economy” and “China”. Several criteria were then determined in order to collate relevant and current data on CE and waste management in China, Japan and South of Korea. Relevant articles were subsequently downloaded and re-test. We then use a narrative synthesis approach to analyze the data.

Main findings:

Based on the study’s findings, the circular economy model is developed in four stages: Design, production, consumption, and waste management. The policies adopted by the countries aiming to achieve sustainable development have both similarities and differences. The common implementation approach for circular economy is the top-down approach and the method is similar across the three pioneering countries. Enabling policies and regulations as well as collaboration and support from all stakeholders (government, entrepreneurs, and consumers) are essential for the successful implementation of the circular economy. This study serves as a guide for Vietnam to implement the circular economy in various economic sectors.

Practical/managerial implications:

For Vietnam, building a circular economy has been identified as one of the country’s development orientations in the 2021-2030 periods. To deploy an effective circular economy model, studies show that governments need to develop appropriate policies and plans for each specific period. After systematically studying the circular economy policies of China, Japan and Korea, some recommendations are proposed to the Government of Vietnam. These recommendations go into the core activities that the three pioneering countries mentioned above have carried out effectively in implementing the circular economy model.

Copyright

© 2021 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press International B.V.

Open Access

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Nguyen Thi Phuong DUNG
AU  - Trinh Huy HONG
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/12/07
TI  - Circular Economy Policies of Some Asian Countries and Recommendations for Vietnam
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Emerging Challenges: Business Transformation and Circular Economy (ICECH 2021)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 486
EP  - 494
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/aebmr.k.211119.045
DO  - 10.2991/aebmr.k.211119.045
ID  - DUNG2021
ER  -