BMA plans rubbish fee hike to tackle city’s waste issue

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) unveiled a new strategy to deal with the capital’s mounting rubbish issue.

The plan is to hike the monthly rubbish collection fee for households from the current 20 baht to 60 baht starting from October next year.

According to Pornphrom Vikitsreth, an adviser to the Bangkok governor, households willing to continue paying the existing fee can do so by registering with the BMA and sorting their waste before it is collected.

“The revised fee is intended to encourage residents to sort their rubbish more effectively and minimise the use of single-use items, like plastic bags.”

Pornphrom added that the fee hike would assist the BMA in covering the costs of waste collection and disposal, which currently stands at approximately 700 million baht per annum, while the BMA can only recoup about 500 million baht.

Torsak Chotimongkol, the chief adviser to the governor, emphasised the significance of household participation in the BMA’s zero waste policy. He pointed out that the capital is projected to generate between 14,000 and 16,000 tonnes of waste monthly from next year until 2027.

Fee increase

The proposal to increase the collection fee to 80 baht per month was initially suggested a few years ago but was not implemented due to the Covid-19 pandemic, reported Bangkok Post.

Under the updated rate structure, households generating less than 20 litres of rubbish daily will be required to pay 60 baht monthly, split equally into collection and disposal fees unless they opt to sort their waste.

The BMA believes that if the volume of rubbish can be significantly reduced, the budget allocated for collection and disposal will also decrease. The savings could then be channelled into other social projects.

Chatree Wattanakhajorn, the BMA’s deputy permanent secretary, has recently announced that the capital’s eco-friendly incinerator located in Nong Khaem is anticipated to commence operations in 2026.