Thailand has taken a big step towards lowering its plastic waste by announcing a complete ban on plastic waste imports from January 1, 2025. The decision, made by the Thai Cabinet today, is part of the country’s ongoing efforts to tackle the escalating drawback of plastic waste, which is contributing to environmental degradation and posing a menace to human well being.
Meanwhile, this 12 months, for the 14 recycling vegetation within the tax-free zone, the amount of waste imported must not exceed their mixed production capability of 372,994 tonnes. In 2024, the amount of plastic waste allowed to be imported for these plants might be lowered to half of their combined manufacturing capacity.
Importers who wish to convey plastic waste to areas exterior the tax-free zone might want to show evidence that the imports are essential due to a scarcity of supplies to fulfill their production demand. The imported plastic waste have to be used as raw material in the manufacturing course of without having to be cleaned, Thai PBS reported.
Deputy Government Spokesperson Tipanan Sirichana acknowledged that the strict rules and the eventual ban on the import of plastic waste aim to protect the surroundings and management air pollution to safeguard the well being of the people.
Thailand has been among the top countries struggling with plastic waste in latest times.
In 2021, the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) mentioned that Thailand had a median of 1.03 tonnes of mismanaged waste annually and that almost half of it (0.31%) flows into the ocean.
Mere , a new graphic has visually portrayed how Thailand is amongst the prime 10 ocean plastic polluters on the planet as a result of mismanaged waste. The graphic reveals a pie chart made up of plastic waste, labelling each country’s quantity of ocean plastic waste in metric tonnes. Surrounding the circle of waste is the ocean.
The authorities has been implementing measures to reduce plastic use and promote recycling, including banning single-use plastics in certain areas and launching campaigns to encourage using cloth baggage and reusable containers.
Last week, it was reported that Thailand‘s use of plastic luggage plunged by over 148,000 tonnes in about three years. The Pollution Control Department (PCD) launched campaigns in 2018 to cut using single-use plastic and plastic purchasing luggage, in cooperation with the Environmental Quality Promotion Department (EQPD)..