CSR Portrait n°20: TONTOTON

1) Can you explain your activity in a few words?

TONTOTON connects companies' brands and products to environmental and social impact through a certified plastic credit system. Our projects focus on recovering the currently most problematic type of plastic – post consumer low-value, non-recyclable plastic. We call them 'orphan' plastic because nobody wants them, the commodity market doesn't find value in them so they're often abandoned, susceptible to open burning, and eventually end up in the ocean hence defined as ocean-bound plastic (OBP).

By collaborating with local communities, we are able to identify the locations where environmental leakage is immense. Informal waste pickers in the area are then on-boarded to collect these orphan plastics, providing them new sources of income, better working conditions, and health insurance. The majority of our waste pickers are women.

The collected OBP is transferred to a partner cement factories to undergo co-processing, a method by which the energy in plastic is converted into fuel, alternative to coal. The very high temperature in the cement kiln uses the plastic as additional raw material to
produce cement clinker blending into the final cement product, creating zero waste. The plant operates in full compliance with the United Nations Environmental Protection's policies, under the Basel Convention Technical Guidelines.

Finally, all our processes are governed by an independent protocol defined within the Ocean- Bound Neutrality Certificate by the French NGO Zero Plastic Oceans and audited by a globally acclaimed third-party control body. Businesses that support our projects are not only able to neutralize portion of the plastic in their products that they cannot necessarily or immediately remove/reduce from their supply chain. More importantly, they support the social and environmental activities involved towards the creation of the plastic credits.

2) Do you have a sustainable development policy in Vietnam?

Yes, TONTOTON works under the strict standard of the Ocean-Bound Plastic Certification Scheme, which defines what OBP is, where it can be collected from, and provides ethical and social guidelines. Under the OBP Certification, Control Union, a 3rd party control body, will issue each Neutralization Certificates (NC).

Control Union (CU) will verify the collection, logistics, and co-processing of the OBP. Moreover, they will check and confirm the sources of OBP and confirm the amount of OBP material collected. To prevent double-counting, before issuing a Neutralization Certificate for the participating company, CU will submit the Neutralization Certificate to Zero Plastic Oceans NGO for its validation in the public registry.

Through this standard, TONTOTON can ensure traceability and transparency of its activities. Participating businesses are part of a community allowed to bear a logo 'Plastic Neutral Products' to depict their participation in the TONTOTON program.
At the end of the neutralization process, TONTOTON rewards the companies with a certificate indicating the amount of plastic prevented from entering our oceans. This system creates an incentive for businesses to take responsibility for their plastic production.
 

3) What is your next step?

We are currently working in the southern and northern islands of Vietnam, in Phu Quoc, Hon Son islands, and Hai Phong, where we have successfully removed 75 tons of plastic waste to date.
But we aim to extend our activities to more areas across the country and is currently developing some parts of Cambodia. Vietnam has 3,444 km of coastline and many rivers, presenting an immense possibility to prevent plastic waste from entering our oceans.

4) What type of advice would you give to other companies in Vietnam to launch a CSR project?

First is to identify an area your company is truly passionate about and can influence the most, best if it can be aligned with your scope of expertise so you can execute on a deeper level that is personal to your brand. Listening to your target beneficiary is also key. It is important to know and understand what is really needed, coming from the perspectives of those you feel are
needing your solution the most. Collaborating with them at planning stage would be meaningful.

CSR projects are not made just for the sake of jumping into the bandwagon of corporate responsibility, consumers are wiser than ever before, and any thread of pretense will be easily realized. And it will do more harm than good. Start simple, but sincere.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals is a good starting point but there are also quite a number of global frameworks you can consult. Good to get the best practices in your area of choice and tailor-fit them where they could be effective on the context of your beneficiaries.

Then, you can start building partnerships aligned with your areas of work, find appropriate stakeholders such as NGOs or small businesses that are already working on these subjects.
Their expertise, experiences, and advice will be really helpful to guide you through this new development.