On January 10, local time, Thailand's Pollution Control Department accelerated the implementation of plastic waste management under the Plastic Waste Management Program 2018-2030 issued by the Cabinet to carry out a waste reduction and separation pilot in government agencies nationwide. It also set the goal of reducing the amount of waste sent for disposal to 30% and the number of foam food packaging boxes to 100% by 2022.
Thai Pollution Control Department Director Atapeng revealed that the Cabinet meeting has approved the adoption of the Plastic Waste Management Program 2018-2030, and the goal by 2022, will phase out four types of single-use plastics to use environmentally friendly renewable materials, namely, portable thin plastic bags less than 36 microns thick, foam food packaging boxes, plastic cups less than 100 microns thick, plastic straws, as well as including the promotion of plastic recycling, including portable plastic bags, single-layer plastic film packaging, plastic bottles (various), bottle caps, plastic cups, plastic spoons, forks, knives, etc.
Atapeng said the Pollution Control Office, as part of the promotion program, has proposed to the cabinet to carry out pilot projects in government agencies nationwide to reduce and separate waste, covering 19 ministries, 152 departmental ministries and 76 prefectures. Since 2019, waste disposal has been reduced by 89,805 tons, portable plastic bags by 341 million, single-use plastic cups by 146 million, and foam food packaging boxes by 194 million.
And the targets for 2022 are: (1) at least 30% reduction in waste disposal; (2) 100% reduction in the number of hand-held plastic bags; (3) 100% reduction in the use of single-use plastic cups; and (4) no use of foam food packaging boxes in various institutions.
