Energy Benchmarks for the Plastic Sector in Vietnam: from Theory to Practice

Energy benchmarks for a specific sector are the basis for enterprises to compare, analyze, and evaluate their energy efficiency, thereby identifying energy-saving opportunities. Although energy benchmarks for the plastic industry in Vietnam are regulated, compliance with regulations in practice is still limited. Therefore, this paper aims to determine the reasons for the low compliance and find solutions to improve the regulations. For this purpose, a comparative study will provide insights into the quantitative gap between the actual specific energy consumption and the regulated value. The results reveal that the particular energy consumption targets are unachievable because the specific product is not comparable to the background condition in the benchmark category or the company's specific energy consumption is far below the benchmark. These results suggest two approaches to improve the regulation: increasing the number of product-based benchmark categories and introducing a new mechanism for uncategorized products.