[ad_1]
BANGKOK: Since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, delivering food to your doorstep has become a new normal for many people in Thailand.
But while food delivery services offer more choice and convenience to consumers, they have also added tons of plastic to Thailand’s waste management system.
Ad
Before the health crisis hit, the Southeast Asian country generated around 5,500 tons of plastic waste per day, according to the president of the Thai Environment Institute (TEI), Dr. Wijarn Simachaya. Today, the number has increased to 6,300 tons, he said.
“The impact of food delivery services is considerable, especially in Bangkok, where the industry has grown tremendously,” he told CNA.
Vegetables are transported in plastic bags at a market in Bangkok, Thailand on June 19, 2019. REUTERS / Soe Zeya Tun
The use of plastic has skyrocketed, even as total waste generated in the Thai capital has decreased.
Bangkok normally produces around 10,500 tons of total waste per day, but the number has decreased by 12 percent since March, largely because the global pandemic has prevented tourists from traveling.
Still, the amount of plastic waste in Bangkok has increased during this period. The growth is significant, ”said Dr. Wijarn, adding that the city now generates almost 3,000 tons of plastic waste per day.
The longevity of plastic products, whose original form can last 400 years, makes most of them go to landfills.
According to the Department of Pollution Control, plastic accounts for up to 12 percent of Thailand’s total waste each year, about 2 million tons.
However, only 25 percent is recycled, while the rest is mostly single-use plastic, and often ends up in landfills or waterways.
A boy in Bangkok, Thailand swims in a pool filled with plastic bottles during an awareness campaign to mark World Oceans Day on June 8, 2019 AFP / Romeo GACAD
In recent years, anti-plastic campaigns have raised public awareness of environmental problems in Thailand.
On January 1, the country welcomed a national movement to voluntarily ban single-use plastic bags. The ban has been supported by the Thai Retail Association, which has some 24,500 retail distribution channels across the country.
But with the current health crisis, Dr. Wijarn said that restricting public movement and The increasing reliance on food delivery services, as well as online shopping platforms, has stalled efforts nationwide to reduce plastic waste.
“A delivery order creates an average of four plastic items. Some types of food like noodle soup come with various condiments in plastic bags. Many types of plastic can be recycled, but the problem today is that plastic does not always enter the waste system, “he said.
The crisis has presented some obstacles, but it is understandable. The important question is where the used plastic goes and how it can be systematically collected.
Thailand faces a serious environmental challenge caused by millions of tons of plastic. In fact, it is the world’s fifth largest contributor to ocean debris.
A 2015 report by the Washington, DC-based environmental advocacy group Ocean Conservancy showed that more than half of plastic waste in the ocean originated in five fast-growing economies: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand.
The magnitude of the plastic waste may have made many Thais more environmentally conscious. Still, a waste-free or low-plastic lifestyle is still limited to a small network of people, in large part because life can be cheap and easy with plastic.
While a quarter of plastic waste, primarily plastic bottles, is recycled each year, single-use plastic items, such as cutlery and takeaway food cups, often end up in landfills as they They are considered useless and therefore are not collected by the main recycling companies. .
Veterinarians prepare to examine a dead deer in Khun Sathan National Park in the Thai province of Nan. The animal was found with 7 kg of plastic in the stomach. (Photo: AFP / Region 13 Protected Area Office / Brochure)
“CATTLE” – A PLASTIC JOURNEY
In his effort to solve the problem of plastic waste in Thailand, Kamol Borrisuttanakul started a project in 2018 to extend the life of single-use plastic bags and films. It’s called Won, which means “go in a circle” in Thai.
“Won collects soft plastic that is not normally marketed in the recycling industry and therefore becomes garbage, such as single-use shopping bags, plastic wrap, and food bags. As long as they are clean and dry, we take them, “said Kamol, chief financial officer of TPBI Public Co Ltd.
Your company manufactures packaging products such as plastic and paper bags, and recycles single-use plastic in production.
“This is our role. Won was formed to collect this type of plastic, which had nowhere to go in the past and generated a lot of plastic waste, “he added.
We also aim to inspire Thais to change the way they dispose of garbage and to segregate it before disposing of anything to reduce the amount of waste.
Each kilogram of clean used plastic bags and film collected by Won is worth 5 baht (US $ 0.15) and will be donated to environmental foundations. So far, the project has already recycled more than 18,000 kg of plastic.
Since its inception, the project has gained an increasing number of participants. It currently has some 160 collection points in Thailand, from Chiang Mai in the north to the southern border province of Pattani. They are located in office buildings, schools, universities and government agencies, including some 50 district administration offices in Bangkok.
Several participants, according to Kamol, are office workers and students. “It is clear that they want to participate to change their society,” he said.
Small pieces of plastic are a problem on the beaches, channels and sea of Thailand. (Photo: Jack Board)
As the number of participants has grown, so has the amount of single-use plastic collected by Won, which grew from a few dozen kilograms per month to 4 tons per month today.
Part goes back to the production system as plastic resin, while other parts are distributed to Won’s business partners, who turn them into handicrafts and household items such as dumpsters.
“In this way, plastic is reused in a circular economy,” said Kamol.
In Thailand, waste management is still a struggle and a culture of waste segregation is still in its infancy, according to Dr. Wijarn.
With the likely health crisis underway, he hopes that many people will continue to use food delivery services and generate more plastic waste.
“Plastic is cheap. We only think about its use and not its elimination, “he said.
“Some countries have a deposit refund system, where consumers can borrow plates, bowls and cutlery before returning them later. Sometimes an after-meal pickup service is provided. We should investigate this.
Of some 10,500 tons of waste generated in Bangkok each day, Dr. Wijarn said that only 1,000 tons can be incinerated.
“That’s what our system can accommodate. The rest go somewhere else to be buried.
CHECK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments
Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram
