Tips for recycling and reducing plastic use in Thailand

[Nereus]

At this stage it is believed that the fire might have started from a combination of hot weather, festering garbage and the strong winds.

I don't supposed it had anything to do with incompetence? Or maybe Burmese attendants?

[buksida]

I'm sure someone will blame those pesky farangs for coming to Samui and making all the trash in the first place.

[Big Boy]

Spotted on my weekly trip to Black Mountain yesterday (the road where T.O.M. gets hassled by crazy cars) - 2 unmanned roadside recycling banks have been installed. Great thought, but no idea if they're being used.

[STEVE G]

Spotted on my weekly trip to Black Mountain yesterday (the road where T.O.M. gets hassled by crazy cars) - 2 unmanned roadside recycling banks have been installed. Great thought, but no idea if they're being used.

If that is the two with all the different coloured bins between the old Car Wash bar and the main road, they were installed a few months ago, I got the impression that it was a private initiative from that restaurant place in the well kept gardens to the left.

[Big Boy]

I don't know if it's the same i.e. I don't recognise your landmarks, but it may be the same.

As I drive to Black Mountain, there's a Thai school on the left. There is a bank about 100 yards either side of the school.

[STEVE G]

That sounds like another set, so they must be official. At least it shows some willing to address the problem.

[HHTel]

Africa have been very successful in banning plastic and in most cases it's happened within a couple of years. Here in Thailand, Prayut aims to ban plastic bags by 2025!!! Considering how the Thais view Africans, you'd think they'd be shamed into doing things better.

Tanzania aims to be plastic bag free, and it’s just one of 34 African nations fighting against single-use plastics with such bans.

In fact, the African continent is leading the world in plastic bag regulations. Notably, 31 of these bans have been passed in sub-Saharan Africa, the globe’s poorest region, as Laura Parker reported for National Geographic in April.

Rwanda have had them banned for 12 years.

In Kenya, the penalties for ignoring the ban are the world’s most punitive. Manufacturers, importers, distributors, and users found with plastic bags face up to $38,000 in fines or four years in prison.

Source: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/spotligh ... li=BBoPWjQ

[buksida]

Thailand to ban three kinds of plastic by end of this year
By the end of 2019 Thailand will be free from three types of plastic – microbeads, cap seals and oxo-degradable plastics.

Then by 2022 four other types of single-use plastics will also be banned – lightweight plastic bags less than 36 microns thick; styrofoam food containers for takeaways; plastic cups and plastic straws – according to a road map approved by the Cabinet.

The Plastic Waste Management Road Map 2018-2030 also includes an ambitious plan for Thailand to use 100 per cent recycled plastic by 2027 in various forms, including turning waste into energy.

The Cabinet has acknowledged the road map and assigned the Natural Resource and Environment Ministry to formulate a draft action plan for plastic waste management, so it is in line with the 20-year national strategy.

...

According to the Department of Environmental Quality Promotion, Thais generate as much as 1.14 kilogram of garbage per head per day, contributing to the 27.04 million tonnes of waste per year.

One person uses approximately eight plastic bags a day – or 500 million plastic bags per day for the whole nation.

https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/plastic ... -this-year

Seven elevens are by far the biggest culprits.

[HHTel]

Oh yeh. Sounds like they're really serious. What an African country can do in two years, Thailand will attempt to do it in 20 years.
Classic example of 'Thai time'!

[HHTel]

Malaysia returns plastic waste to Britain saying it ‘will not be a dumping ground’

Ms Yeo said a UK recycling company exported more than 50,000 metric tons of plastic waste in about 1,000 containers to Malaysia over the past two years.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/m ... li=BBoPWjQ

[PeteC]

The US has been exporting it also. Thailand was the recipient of some from many countries right after China shut down their imports, with many illegal processing factories popping up. Many if not most where in the three Samut locations. Most have now been shut from what I read and nothing but high valued scrap allowed in as import.

[Big Boy]

Spotted on my weekly trip to Black Mountain yesterday (the road where T.O.M. gets hassled by crazy cars) - 2 unmanned roadside recycling banks have been installed. Great thought, but no idea if they're being used.

A few of these recycle areas have appeared along this stretch of road now. Driving past yesterday, it is very evident they are being used for dumping general household waste, and one looked an absolute disgrace.

A friend has told me bin collection has become a problem in that part of Hua Hin. Locals are obviously using their initiative in protest Any comment T.O.M. as you ride past regularly?

[buksida]

A few of these recycle areas have appeared along this stretch of road now. Driving past yesterday, it is very evident they are being used for dumping general household waste, and one looked an absolute disgrace.

This happens a lot where we live, aside from the fact we have no 'recycle areas'. As soon as someone dumps their household trash there, the sheeple follow and before long it becomes a stinking festering pile of rotting garbage. If Thailand doesn't want to be considered 'third world' the govt should really get their fingers out with trash collection and disposal - they have the budget for it, and there is no shortage of cheap land, but as usual it goes elsewhere along with their priorities.

[migrant]

Went for a motor bike ride the other day with friends. Covered some pretty decent area and many small towns. Lot's of the small towns had trash bins scattered, and some recycle bins, but in our (semi) big city, nothing

[STEVE G]

Spotted on my weekly trip to Black Mountain yesterday (the road where T.O.M. gets hassled by crazy cars) - 2 unmanned roadside recycling banks have been installed. Great thought, but no idea if they're being used.

A few of these recycle areas have appeared along this stretch of road now. Driving past yesterday, it is very evident they are being used for dumping general household waste, and one looked an absolute disgrace.

A friend has told me bin collection has become a problem in that part of Hua Hin. Locals are obviously using their initiative in protest Any comment T.O.M. as you ride past regularly?

I cycle that route when I'm here as well and I notice that at a couple of those locations, they've now added four more bins for general waste alongside the four recycle bins.