Vietnam this week enacted an extended producer responsibility law requiring suppliers of lubricants and other materials to take steps to recycle them.
Aimed at protecting the environment, the law applies to producers and importers of lubricants, tires, batteries and electronics. The law gives companies several options for how to fulfill their responsibilities. Suppliers may directly recycle their materials once they are used, may organize the recycling but contract another company to do the work, may contract another organization to organize the recycling or may contribute to a national environmental protection fund.
The law also requires entities enlisted to recycle to meet a number of requirements meant to ensure that their work is effective. The government committed to maintain lists of eligible recycling service providers. Entities organizing recycling programs must be contracted to do so by at least three suppliers.
The law does not appear to set requirements for waste lubricants to be rerefined into base oils. Some governments, such as the European Union, do establish preferences that waste lubes be rerefined into base oils rather than incinerated or burned as fuel.
The same Vietnam law also requires suppliers of materials such as fertilizers, foods and beverages, pharmaceuticals, detergents and cement to ensure recycling of packaging materials.
A growing number of countries from Chile to India are enacting extended producer responsibility regulations as part of the sustainability movement.