Development of a circular economy has a close relationship with waste management in general, including plastic waste in particular. Accordingly, waste management is considered a particularly important aspect in promoting circular economy development, contributing to turning waste into input materials of production activities, helping to reduce exploitation of resources, and reduce environmental pollution. Since implementing Đổi mới (i.e. renovation) and the open door policy to support the country’s development, the Vietnamese government has paid due attention to perfecting policies and laws on waste management. However, through studying the current legal regulations, the author found that besides the notable successes, the legal regulations on plastic waste management are still stifled by inadequacies, limitations, and shortcomings resulting in the failure of meeting the requiremens of promoting the development of a circular economy. This article points out the inadequacies in the current regulations and implementation of the law on plastic waste management in Vietnam, and thereby, proposes some solutions to develop and improve policies and laws in this area in order to promote the development of a circular economy in Vietnam in the future.