Thailand becoming ‘garbage bin of world’

Waste policies encourage wrong choices; reducing, reusing and recycling should come first, say environmentalists.

EXPERTS on waste management and environmental protection are warning that Thailand could become the garbage bin of the world, as the government’s policies to promote the waste-to-energy industry have already resulted in plastic waste imports to the Kingdom.

Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand director Penchom Saetang said the country’s recent waste management trends run counter to correct waste management methods. 

The government’s current path will prevent a proper solution to waste management problems and unintentionally lead to waste from other countries being dumped in Thailand, she said.

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Penchom singled out for criticism the promotion of private investment in small waste-to-energy projects across the country.

“Waste-to-energy is one of the most polluting methods for both waste management and power generation, because not only will burning garbage emit toxic pollutants, but the leftover ashes are also very hazardous and require very careful disposal in a secured landfill. And so building many small waste-to-energy plants is a very bad decision,” Penchom said. “I do not contest the advantages of waste-to-energy, as it is one of the acceptable measures to deal with unrecyclable waste, but we should have only a few big waste-to-energy plants that are properly equipped with all pollution control measures.”

Highlighting her concern over the small size of the waste-to-energy projects now being promoted by the government, Penchom said it was not cost-effective for the investors to install expensive pollution-control systems. 

They are forced to reduce the money spent on environmental protection in order to keep their investment profitable.

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According to the five-year waste management masterplan, local administrative organisations are required to manage waste. However, the private sector is also encouraged to invest in waste disposal plants, based on the assumption that they are more able and ready to properly oversee waste disposal.

Forty-four provinces meet the criteria, allowing them to initiate private-sector investment in waste-to-energy plants. Those criteria include the availability of a feed-in powerline, ability to ensure a feedstock of at least 300 tonnes of garbage. In contrast, a total 102 areas in 49 provinces have the capacities for investment in refuse-derived fuel (RDF) processing plants. 

For the less populated areas that have below 50 tonnes of waste generated per day, the authorities and residents are advised to locally process their waste into fertiliser and bury the leftover garbage in a local sanitary landfill.

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Journey to clean #Thailand’s oceans takes another step forward

   Help save our seas and save on your diving trips

Building on the success of the ‘Upcycling the Oceans, Thailand’ project, the Tourism Authority of Thailand has officially kicked off the ‘SAVE the Ocean & SAVE for Your Next Dive’ campaign, offering divers the chance to earn discounts on dive trips, in return for helping to protect Thailand’s marine ecosystem.

Interested divers are encouraged to take part by following just three easy steps: first, they need to inform a participating dive operator that they would like to join the project. The dive operator will then give them a special rubbish collection bag. Second, divers collect rubbish while enjoying their dive, and return the bag to receive a stamp on their ‘Diving Passport’. 

Third, they can use the stamp to redeem special discounts on their next dive trip with a participating dive operator.

Participating operators and dive sites are located in easy reach of Bangkok, on Thailand’s picturesque Eastern Seaboard – from the conveniently located Ao Sattahip and Ao Samae San in Chon Buri to the magical island of Ko Samet and the hidden gem of Hin Phloeng in Rayong province.

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The campaign is part of ‘Upcycling the Oceans, Thailand’ – a collaborative project among TAT, PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) and the Ecoalf Foundation – which aims to not only transform plastic debris found in the ocean into thread to make fabrics, but also to preserve the sea and coastal areas.

During their dive, participating divers are encouraged to practice good buoyancy control while also being careful to maintain the fragile ecosystem they are helping to protect – for example, when removing fishing nets from coral, it is best to use scissors to carefully trim the net and not pull it in such a way that will cause the coral to break.

Source - TheNation

#Thailand - Cutting plastic waste pollution at sea on agenda at Asean-China meeting in #Phuket

THAILAND’S GOAL to gradually eradicate plastic waste at sea by 80 million to 160 million kilograms a year by 2021, is expected to be affirmed by Jatuporn Burutpat, chief of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, at the upcoming Asean and China Sea Waste Reduction Meeting, to be held in Phuket from November 22-23.

Jatuporn cited a 2010 study of 192 countries, published in 2015 in a US-based science journal. The study ranked Thailand as the world’s sixth largest contributor of plastic waste enters the world’s seas at 1.03 million tonnes per year. 

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China, topped the list at 8.82 million tonnes of plastic waste yearly, followed by Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Egypt, Malaysia, Nigeria and Bangladesh. Since many Asean nations have a problem with sea waste and had connecting sea-based borders, it was important for the department to help propel forward a regional waste-management plan, said Jatuporn. 

The countries need to exchange ideas and their experiences dealing with sea-waste issues, he added, citing Singapore and Malaysia for the quality of their technology and progress in implementing measures that could be shared throughout the bloc.

Thailand’s plastic-waste reduction goal is part of the department’s master plan for garbage management (2016-2021). 

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 The five-parts of the master plan are to study garbage types, amount and origins to build a database; to reduce the impact of sea waste on key ecosystems; to reduce the volume of garbage by applying academic principles and encouraging manufacturers and product distributors to use environmentally friendly materials; to boost public awareness and participation in sea waste reduction, especially in coastal provinces; and to create plastic-free zones to serve as models for use of alternative materials, Jatuporn said. 

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Jatuporn acknowledged headlines about garbage washing ashore in Thailand’s coastal provinces and commentary about the country’s lack of effective sea waste management. About 80 percent of sea waste was actually produced on land, he said, continuing that the upcoming Asian meeting is expected to table possible measures to reduce garbage at its origins, in mid-stream, and in downstream areas. 

He also hopes to hear about measures to boost public awareness so people would separate trash at home for proper disposal.

Source - TheNation