Vietnam’s leading retailer Saigon Co.op has put into use locally produced biodegradable plastic bags at its supermarkets in Ho Chi Minh City in a pilot program that will be extended nationwide later, Tuoi Tre reported Monday.

 

According to Saigon Co.op’s leaders, while the price of environmentally friendly bags, produced by VAFACO Packing Joint Stock Company, are 10 percent more expensive than common ones, the pilot program won’t affect goods’ prices because both of them agreed to share the price difference.

 

Nguyen Phuoc Dong, director of VAFACO, said the bag is introduced from high density polyethylene (HDPE) and the key component – resin additive Reverte™.

 

Kept under sunlight or in temperature of over 50 Celsius degrees within 48 hours, it will start degrading and become powder after three to nine months. Microorganisms then will eat the powder to produce carbon dioxide and water, according to Tuoi Tre.

 

Moreover, left unused for two years since its production, the bag will also degrade itself.

 

The Saigon Times quoted Saigon Co.op’s leaders as saying that the bag is certified by British-owned Wells Plastics Limited.