Starprint Vietnam: Sustainable Packaging
The Challenge
Vietnam faces an acute packaging crisis. According to the World Bank (2022), plastics represent 94% of items and 71% by weight of all waste in Vietnamese landfills. The nation's plastic production increases every year. The Vietnamese government has set targets to substantially reduce ocean plastics and eliminate single-use plastics in key sectors by 2030.
Starprint Vietnam (SV), a major player in Vietnam's packaging industry since 2001, recognized that this was not just a regulatory threat but a strategic opportunity. With roots dating back to a Thai operation founded in 1962, SV needed a long-term vision to lead rather than follow the industry's inevitable transformation.
Applying SiD
Except partnered with Starprint Vietnam to implement the Symbiosis in Development (SiD) framework, combining SV's deep industry knowledge with Except's strategic sustainability expertise.
The process followed a carefully structured three-phase approach:
Phase 1: Capacity Building
Except trained a 12-person core team from Starprint on sustainability fundamentals, industry standards, and global market trends. This step, aligned with SiD's initiation phase, built the internal literacy needed for meaningful participation in strategy development. The team simultaneously gathered and analyzed data on Starprint's environmental footprint, market conditions, and stakeholder expectations.
Phase 2: Intelligence Gathering
Except completed supplementary research including best-practice benchmarking, competitor performance comparisons, and legislative change forecasting. This corresponds to SiD's intelligence phase, where system analysis reveals the forces shaping the operating environment.
Phase 3: Co-creation Workshop
A two-day facilitated workshop in Ho Chi Minh City brought the core team together. Workshop outputs included: sustainability objectives, primary focus area identification, a baseline roadmap structure, and initial project formulation for long-term goals. This aligns with SiD's solution phase.
Outcomes
The resulting roadmap provides what SV describes as "a flexible, 360-degree structure that connects all aspects of the business in one cockpit-like overview." This integrated approach enables comprehensive long-term strategic planning, implementation, and management across the organization.
The roadmap positions Starprint Vietnam as an industry leader driving sustainable innovation in Asia's packaging sector. As global markets shift away from disposable packaging, SV now has a strategic foundation for long-term business resilience and competitive advantage.
Why This Matters for SiD
The Starprint project demonstrates SiD's applicability in rapidly developing economies where sustainability pressures are intensifying. The framework's emphasis on capacity building before strategy, and its structured progression from intelligence gathering through co-creation, proved essential in a context where sustainability expertise was still emerging within the organization.
Key SiD Methods Used
- SiD five-step method (initiation through solution)
- Capacity building and team training
- Intelligence gathering and benchmarking
- System and stakeholder analysis
- Co-creation workshops for roadmap development