Plastic waste in Thailand has witnessed a surge of 62%, escalating from 2.12 million tonnes in 2019 to 3.4 million tonnes in 2020, according to the Thailand Environment Institute. This increase has been largely attributed to lifestyle changes induced by the pandemic, such as an increased reliance on food delivery services.
The Prayut Chan-o-cha government initiated a policy in 2018 to ban single-use plastic bags, but the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns hampered these efforts.
However, hopes are high that both public and private sector initiatives will succeed in tackling the plastic waste crisis. The Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW), a collaboration between state agencies and private sector companies, aims to recycle 50,000 tonnes of plastic waste a year through its Smart Recycling Hub…
