Thailand still sealed in plastic

[webfact]

Thailand still sealed in plastic

By Pratch Rujivanarom 
The Nation 

 

File Photo : Thai Environment Day gives consumers a chance to show they care by waving off offers of plastic bags at a department store.

 

WITH WORLD Environment Day being observed on Wednesday, major retail chains Tesco Lotus and Central Group have pledged to further reduce plastic use in their operations, and on a permanent basis.
 

The announcements drew praise from some environmentalists, but Greenpeace said the level of commitment remained inadequate to have the needed effect on Thailand’s plastic-waste nightmare.

 

A fundamental shift in consumer behaviour was needed, it said.

 

Tesco Lotus corporate affairs director Salinla Seehapan said the chain would eliminate all “expanded polyethylene” packaging by the end of this month and switch to recyclable materials instead. 

 

Tesco Lotus will also continue efforts to reduce the use of plastic bags, she said.

 

“We have been gradually reducing expanded-polyethylene packaging in all 2,000 outlets since last year and we are proud to announce that, by July, none of our stores will use it,” Salinla said.

 

“From now on, our food products will be packed in recyclable thermoforming plastic plate, which could reduce the use of expanded polyethylene by more than 400 tonnes a year.”

 

Cheap and lightweight, expanded polyethylene foam packaging remains in wide use for wrapping food, electronic and electrical goods, furniture and more, but it is considered non-biodegradable. Scientists say it will take thousands of years to fully break down.

 

Its lightness actually contributes to the waste problem, since the wind carries off discarded pieces, littering streets and often ending up in the sea. 

 

There it can break up into micro-plastic easily swallowed by marine life, thus contaminating the food chain and posing a health hazard to consumers of seafood.

 

Salinla said Tesco Lotus would maintain its policy of banning plastic bags on the fourth day of every month in a bid to encourage customers to bring fabric bags or their own plastic bags to reuse.

 

The chain will also open a sixth plastic-bags-free outlet on Koh Chang in Trat by the end of the year where the bags are banned year-round.

 

Central Retail Corp president Nicolo Galante had earlier announced its ambitious goal to become Thailand’s first plastic-bags-free retailer by the end of this year.

 

Beginning on World Environment Day, Galante said, all of the chain’s outlets except its food markets would stop automatically placing purchases in plastic bags. Customers will have to specifically request a plastic bag or bring their own.

 

Greenpeace country director Tara Buakamsri said he was pleased to hear the two retail giants were taking stronger measures to reduce plastic waste, but warned that it’s still not enough to meet the national goal of abandoning expanded polyethylene food packaging completely by 2022.

 

Every retailer and every consumer must adopt more intensive measures to cut down on the use of all kinds of single-use plastic, Tara said.

 

“The big companies’ CSR [corporate social responsibility] campaigns alone cannot end plastic pollution,” he said. “The key to solving the problem is changing consumer behaviour, and Thais are heavily addicted to plastic.

 

“So we should focus on lessening their reliance on single-use plastic by fostering different behaviour and a fresh mindset.”

 

The Plastic Institute of Thailand estimates that, in 2015, more than 2.048 million tonnes of plastic were used in product packaging and more than 476,000 tonnes were used to make plastic bags.

 

Rutchada Suriyakul Na Ayutya, director-general of the government’s Environment Quality Promotion Department, said every Thai was generating 1.15 kilograms of waste a day on average through reliance on single-use plastic. 

 

The result is more than 2 million tonnes of plastic waste annually.

 

And only 500,000 tonnes of the waste was being properly managed and recycled each year, Rutchada said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30370446

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-06-03

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[FarFlungFalang]

Grow hemp and make paper bags!

[stanleycoin]

7 minutes ago, FarFlungFalang said:

Grow hemp and make paper bags!

Grow the right one,  then smoke the bag after shopping

Win Win. 

 

 

Edited June 2, 2019 by stanleycoin

[Assurancetourix]

If they started by not making any more?
or no longer buy it to dry up the source;
If you go to a Makro you will see hundreds of pallets of pockets and plastic bags that are for sale to be used by the millions of sellers on the steps or sidewalks of Thailand;
How many Makro stores are there in Thailand?
and so how many thousands of pallets of plastic products that are sold each day?

[30la]

Another day dedicated to something that should already be clear to everyone!
Make this day a thing forever, let's say NO to all plastic packaging!

Edited June 3, 2019 by metisdead
Bold font removed.

[fforest1]

I like plastic....

[Khun Paul]

Or the manufacturers, like the Battery people, wrap two batteries together, then encase them in another plastic wrap making four, then encase them again inside a plastic bubble backed onto a paper/card back and sold by putting it in a plastic bag.

When you get them the bloody things are out of date and useless. 

 

[scoutman360]

They are switching to another type of plastic that can be recycled. What percentage of recyclable material actually makes it to the recycle center? Another ineffective move.

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

maintain its policy of banning plastic bags on the fourth day of every month

how about every day in the month... just do it and makes customers change their habits!

[Tayaout]

I was surprised to see that you now have to pay for bags in Malaysia and Vietnam (Maybe even Cambodia I don't remember). Several store in Malaysia even sell plastic like bags (cellulose?) that are biodegradable and way more sturdy than the typical 7/11 and Big C bags. This is a good thing IMO.

Edited June 3, 2019 by Tayaout

[MaxYakov]

I'm sure the ocean creatures are quite happy about how quickly we're reacting to their plight as a result of our careless use of non-biodegradable plactic.

 

If we kill the oceans, it's going to be a lot worse impact on the planet than the alleged climate change predictions.

 

 

 

Edited June 3, 2019 by MaxYakov

[HHTel]

2 hours ago, fforest1 said:

I like plastic....

And so does all the marine life.  They swallow it and then die.  Those that don't are contaminated with micro beads and finish up on your table.  You need to like it as you're already eating it and slowly poisoning yourself!

[HHTel]

When I see 7/11 stores banning single use plastic or even attempting to reduce it then I might believe they are serious.  Several 7/11's in my area have shelves of bananas, each single banana in a plastic bag.  Buy one and it will be put in another plastic bag. I've never taken a bag from 7/11 in 2 years and I still get strange looks at the counter when I produce my own bag!  

 

34 African countries have banned plastic, some of them for many years.  So who is more forward thinking, Africa or Thailand?

 

Thailand - You should be ashamed!

[FarFlungFalang]

47 minutes ago, HHTel said:

So who is more forward thinking, Africa or Thailand?

Thailand is forward thinking just maybe not forward going.

[wobalt]

If you got plastic bag for free and have to pay for alternatives about 300 Baht - then?.


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[Wilsonandson]

 

[ZeVonderBearz]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

The big companies’ CSR [corporate social responsibility] campaigns alone cannot end plastic pollution,” he said. “The key to solving the problem is changing consumer behaviour, and Thais are heavily addicted to plastic.

Now, now. Let's not pass the buck onto consumers. The big corps are the ones with all the money, all the power, all the expertise and if they show the same willingness for saving the plant like they show for making as much money as they can then they can sort the plastic problem out in no time. Big corps are the issue, not the local man or woman on the street.

[ravip]

4 hours ago, fforest1 said:

I like plastic....

Whats attractive about plastic?

[Lacessit]

Somebody is making a motza out of plastic here. I suspect banning the stuff would tread on too many toes.

People would soon start reusing plastic if they were charged 5 baht every time they got a new plastic bag with their purchases.

The attached photo is a plastic bowl of salad mix, 39 baht. Inside the bowl, it has 4  plastic sachets - one for the egg, one for the corn, one for the mayonnaise, one for the rice and kidney beans. It's held together by more plastic in the form of adhesive tape.

I suppose the printed cardboard band around it makes me feel environmentally responsible.

 

[ZeVonderBearz]

1 hour ago, HHTel said:

When I see 7/11 stores banning single use plastic or even attempting to reduce it then I might believe they are serious.  Several 7/11's in my area have shelves of bananas, each single banana in a plastic bag.  Buy one and it will be put in another plastic bag. I've never taken a bag from 7/11 in 2 years and I still get strange looks at the counter when I produce my own bag!  

 

34 African countries have banned plastic, some of them for many years.  So who is more forward thinking, Africa or Thailand?

 

Thailand - You should be ashamed!

Yeah but if the state bans plastic then PTT, the state owned oil company, will lose out on too much money. You'd think that $30,000,000,000 is more than enough money for a single person but apparently not.

[Tayaout]

29 minutes ago, wobalt said:

If you got plastic bag for free and have to pay for alternatives about 300 Baht - then?.


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I don't remember the price for sturdy and biodegradable plastic like bags in Malaysia but it was negligible. This link show the price difference can be almost nothing.

[stanleycoin]

2 minutes ago, ravip said:

Whats attractive about plastic?

Maybe in an emergency 

 

 

[Tayaout]

This is what I have seen in 7/11 in Malaysia. 

 

 

[Lacessit]

7 minutes ago, ravip said:

Whats attractive about plastic?

Silicone is a plastic,and can look very attractive used in the right places.

[wobalt]

I don't remember the price for sturdy and biodegradable plastic like bags in Malaysia but it was negligible. This link show the price difference can be almost nothing.

Sups biodegradable are not a solution for marine littering. Th EU just banned them


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[Tayaout]

1 minute ago, wobalt said:

Sups biodegradable are not a solution for marine littering. Th EU just banned them


Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

I would like to see hemp paper bags but unlikely in the near future. Let's use plastic then! 

[wobalt]

Hemp Is a natural polymer and would be allowed


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[HHTel]

40 minutes ago, Tayaout said:

This is what I have seen in 7/11 in Malaysia. 

 

 

I see that this is 'compostable' which is not the same as bio-degradable.  These bags should not be thrown in with the normal garbage but only in 'compostable' garbage.  It will break down as compost in the right environment but will not bio-degrade in normal garbage.

[alesandrtr114]

It just hurts my heart when I see all the videos and pictures from Thailand beaches. I'd love to organise a trip to Thailand just for cleaning the beaches...

[HHTel]

1 hour ago, wobalt said:

If you got plastic bag for free and have to pay for alternatives about 300 Baht - then?.


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300 Baht!!! The stores that do supply re-usable or non-plastic bags are generally charging around 20 baht.  Spread that 20 baht over a year or two, which is easily the life of the bag, then it's nothing!