Plastic piles up in Thailand as pandemic efforts sideline pollution fight

[webfact]

Plastic piles up in Thailand as pandemic efforts sideline pollution fight

By Patpicha Tanakasempipat

 

 

A woman works in a recycling plant during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bangkok, Thailand May 11, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand began the year with a ban on single-use plastic bags that Bangkok office worker Nicha Singhanoi hoped would cut back the waste that puts her country among the world's top five choking the oceans with plastic.

 

Then the coronavirus pandemic forced school closures and authorities told people to stay home, and far from falling, Bangkok's plastic waste has soared 62% in volume in April, as more people opt for food and goods to be delivered to homes.

 

"There is so much bubble wrap and product packaging, or bags and containers from food deliveries," said Nicha, 27, an avid online shopper, who said that working from home deprived her of the time to cook.

 

Even if the pandemic eases, environmentalists fear Thailand is simply a pointer for the situation elsewhere in Southeast Asia, home to four of the world's top five plastic polluters of the ocean. The biggest is China.

 

As much as 3,432 tonnes of plastic was thrown away in the Thai capital each day in April, up from last year's average of 2,115 tonnes, city data shows. Contaminated items, from takeaway bags to containers, bottles and cups, made up more than 80%.

 

Thailand's experience serves as a warning for the region, said Wijarn Simachaya, president of the Thailand Environment Institute, a think tank.

 

"The large increase is very concerning," Wijarn told Reuters. "What progress we've made on the campaign against single-use plastic has gone back to square one."

 

Despite a smaller pile of general waste as the lockdown halted businesses, Thailand, which usually generates about 2 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, is likely to see a surge of 30% nationwide this year, Wijarn added.

 

"There's a lot of plastics in one order, whether hot food bags, sauce bags, or plastic utensils that also come individually wrapped in plastic."

 

Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa acknowledged a setback in the fight on plastic waste, but said he remained hopeful Thailand could still regain lost ground.

 

"Don't fight many battles at a time," Varawut told Reuters. "Now it's COVID first," he added, referring to the respiratory disease caused by the virus, which brought 3,015 infections and 56 deaths in Thailand.

 

FOOD DELIVERY GROWTH

The food delivery sector is estimated to have grown 33% in just over a month to about 4.5 billion baht ($139 million), said Siwat Luangsomboon, deputy managing director of Kasikorn Research Center, a unit of the Thai bank.

 

"Thailand was on track to slash single-use plastics by 30% this year with the bag ban, but with consumer behaviour shifting towards food delivery, we may not be able to get back on that track," Siwat told Reuters.

 

Food delivery service Line Man, owned by Japanese chat app Line Corp, has seen order numbers grow 300% from the beginning of Bangkok's lockdown in March through the end of April, a company representative told Reuters.

 

Singapore-based Grab, another app, reported 400% growth in its food delivery business in the week after the lockdown, but said numbers later dropped to slightly above normal.

 

Foodpanda Thailand said it saw orders grow 50% in March from February, with a rise of 10% in April on the month, while weekly transactions hit a high in the first week of May.

 

OCEAN POLLUTION

Southeast Asia has long been a major contributor to land-based plastic waste leaking into the world's oceans, say environmentalists.

 

A region already grappling with poor waste management stands to be hit hard by the "sudden onslaught" of plastic waste from the pandemic, said the U.S.-based group Ocean Conservancy.

 

"We expect the damage will be significant in places already vulnerable to ocean plastic pollution, like Southeast Asia," said Doug Cress, its vice president for conservation.

 

No pandemic-related plastic waste data has yet been made available in other countries besides Thailand.

 

Top polluter China and the Southeast Asian nations of Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, account for more than half of plastic pollution in the ocean, Ocean Conservancy said in 2015.

 

China has not released detailed data on plastic waste caused by more home deliveries, which were up by a quarter in March and April. Its environment ministry has focused on boosting capacity to tackle soaring volumes of medical waste.

 

(Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-MAP/0100B59S39E/index.html)

 

(Reporting by Patpicha Tanakasempipat; Additional reporting by David Stanway in Shanghai; Editing by Kay Johnson and Clarence Fernandez)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-05-11

 

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[z42]

There really is no hope for our pathetic species. Whether it's humans polluting at will here in Thailand, or plundering natural resources wherever they occur, or eating our way to extinction with ghastly food choices becoming the "go to" rather than a little treat.

 

We are the generation tasked with saving the planet, and yet it's being annahilated at a faster pace than ever.

 

There is literally no consideration from those running the show in any country about reining consumption in.

 

These delivery apps are creating vastly more harm than good.

 

Dreadful ????

[bluesofa]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

Despite a smaller pile of general waste as the lockdown halted businesses, Thailand, which usually generates about 2 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, is likely to see a surge of 30% nationwide this year, Wijarn added.

"There's a lot of plastics in one order, whether hot food bags, sauce bags, or plastic utensils that also come individually wrapped in plastic."

Perhaps one answer regarding the increase in plastic waste could be to follow an idea catching on in India, by offering food in exchange for plastic.

Run by the local authority, a restaurant offers free meals to those turning up with plastic waste.

 

source: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/dec/24/from-rubbish-to-rice-the-cafe-that-gives-food-in-exchange-for-plastic  

 

 

[topt]

16 hours ago, webfact said:

who said that working from home deprived her of the time to cook.

If before you went out to work surely it should be the opposite?

[Chassa]

17 hours ago, z42 said:

We are the generation tasked with saving the planet, and yet it's being annahilated at a faster pace than ever.

The planet will be fine, no animal life, but until the sun burns out the planet will be fine.

[hotchilli]

3 worst inventions, politics, religion and plastic... all 3 have a lot to answer for .

The irony is we could actually live without any of them!

[z42]

1 hour ago, Chassa said:

The planet will be fine, no animal life, but until the sun burns out the planet will be fine.

Yeah, but why do animals have to bear the brunt of human supremacy, greed, and destruction.

 

We are tasked with providing a liveable planet not just for humans.

 

That's the point. We've earned our destruction. The animals have done no such thing

[Grumpy John]

' "There is so much bubble wrap and product packaging, or bags and containers from food deliveries," said Nicha, 27, an avid online shopper, who said that working from home deprived her of the time to cook.'  Said every lazy whore on the planet that is to lazy to bother........

[Matzzon]

Yep, I guess doing two things at the same time was out of the question.

[digger70]

4 hours ago, topt said:

If before you went out to work surely it should be the opposite?

Yep, no traveling time more than enough time to cook. Just Thai Lazy ????

[mok199]

21 hours ago, z42 said:

These delivery apps are creating vastly more harm than good.

 

Not to mention the delivery ''drivers'' as they now own the roads....

[dinsdale]

3 hours ago, z42 said:

Yeah, but why do animals have to bear the brunt of human supremacy, greed, and destruction.

 

We are tasked with providing a liveable planet not just for humans.

 

That's the point. We've earned our destruction. The animals have done no such thing

Humans are animal life. I'm assuming by no animal life that includes us.

[Venom]

Thailand is the hub of stupidity, greed, corruption and pollution. They've now achieved most polluted city on the planet status with the crop burning by a long shot 6 months of the year. The quality of life has gone to hell but at least they have a 711 on every corner to supply their junk food and unhealthy life style habit and throw the waste on the side of the road. ????