Plan to phase out importing plastic scrap by 2025

After two years of discussion, a ban on plastic scrap imports is finally set to roll out in phases over the next three years. The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Varawut Silpa-archa leads the subcommittee on plastic and electronic waste management, and at a recent meeting, they examined factories that make use of plastic scrap and considered their production capacity. He insisted that the country must not be used as a trash bin for other countries’ garbage.

“Thailand must not be a dump site for plastic waste. By the end of the next three years, we will not allow any import of plastic scrap from around the world. We need to protect our country. This is a significant step to make our country clean from plastic waste.”

The plan is to roll out a full ban in three phases, starting next year. The first step would be to measure the actual production needs of 14 major plants in the free trade zones and limit plastic waste imports to only what they can use in production. Plants outside of the free trade zone will have to get approval from the subcommittee before procuring any plastic scrap from abroad

The second step would further phase out the shipping of plastic scrap to Thailand from other countries, reducing the total allowance of imports by 50%. That reduction by half would be implemented two years from now, in 2024.

The final phase would be enacted the following year and would see a complete ban on all plastic scrap being shipped from other countries to Thailand.

The three-year strategy was discussed at the subcommittee meeting with stakeholders in the industrial sector that make use of raw materials including plastic scrap dumped by other countries. But the effect on production and costs of a total ban on scrap plastic is still unknown.

The plastic scrap proposal is part of a larger picture with the Department of Pollution Control drafting its plastic waste management plan for 2023 through 2027 that covers four key environmental areas. Extracting and recycling all plastic waste from landfills by 2027 is one of them, with hopes of phasing out plastics, especially single-use plastics.

A campaign to remove or limit single-use plastic bags in convenience stores and department stores has already lessened usage by 43% over two years, saving 150,000 tonnes of waste from going into landfills.

There’s a long way to go though, as Varawut says only 32% of the 24.98 million tonnes of household waste each year in Thailand is properly managed.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post

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