Cap seal to be phased out in Thailand within a year

[impulse]

2 minutes ago, janhkt said:

It should be apparant if a bottle lid has been opened anyway.

 

Only after you've bought it and actually twisted the cap.  Unless you twist the cap while you're pondering the purchase- which could break the lid anyway...

 

Not to mention the dust and rat pee that gets on just about everything being moved or stored here.

 

I like the heat shrink cap seals, to indicate there's been no tampering, and to keep the rat pee out.  The problem isn't with the seals.  It's with littering.

 

[DM07]

1 hour ago, jaiyen said:

So how will they seal the bottles? Or will they be unsealed so anyone can go in a shop and easily open the bottle and drink from it and put it back.

 

...as happens so often, in countries that don't have that stupid seal!

[impulse]

4 minutes ago, DM07 said:

...as happens so often, in countries that don't have that stupid seal!

 

Are their rats as brazen as the ones that live around (and in) every 7-11 in Thailand?

 

I'd rather keep the seals and do away with the stupid straws.

 

 

Edited June 12, 2017 by impulse

[DM07]

1 minute ago, impulse said:

 

Are their rats as brazen as the ones that live around (and in) every 7-11 in Thailand?

 

I'd rather keep the seals and do away with the stupid straws.

 

 

I'd rather keep the straws and do away the stupid bags!

But that is not the point!

If someone is too stupid not to recognize an already opened bottle, he is beyond help!

[chezy86]

Why not phase out plastic all together and use glass returnable bottles (with a deposit). Kill two birds with one stone, no plastic waste and no risk of chemicals leeching from the plastic into the water. While we're at it get rid of plastic bags which are more of an issue anyway and go back to brown paper bags or natural materials like banana leaves which are decomposable. In fact let's just admit it we had it right in the 60s and 70s.

[little mary sunshine]

Untreated sewage dumped by the tons into the ocean

on a daily basis, mold,on almost every building, diesel

exhaust so black you choak on the highways, styrofoam 

trash line the streets and the elimination of these plastic

seals are going to improve the environment?????  

JUST ABSURD!!!!

[StefanBBK]

1 hour ago, worgeordie said:

A very small step,Plastic bags are the the big elephant in the room,that needs dealing 

with,plus a change in the attitude that rubbish is someone else's problem,and its OK

just to dump it anywhere.

regards Worgerordie

Absolutely agree. Charge 5 Baht for a plastic bag and you will see drastic reduction. Or give a discount for people who bring their own bag!

[hkt83100]

2 hours ago, jaiyen said:

So how will they seal the bottles? Or will they be unsealed so anyone can go in a shop and easily open the bottle and drink from it and put it back.

 

It is sealed, because you cannot open the bottle without breaking the cap. These stupid seals are completely useless, except for example in case of the 20 liter containers, which don't have these cracking caps.

[impulse]

 

24 minutes ago, DM07 said:

I'd rather keep the straws and do away the stupid bags!

But that is not the point!

If someone is too stupid not to recognize an already opened bottle, he is beyond help!

 

I challenge you to tell if a plastic bottle is opened without actually twisting the cap off.  I'm looking at a bottle of Chang water in front of me right now, and there is no way to tell visually.  I have to twist the cap to see if the tabs have been broken.

 

And that doesn't address the probability that a rat has peed on the cap while crawling all over everything in the delivery truck and store room.

 

Opened or not?

 

 

Edited June 12, 2017 by impulse

[farcanell]

1 hour ago, Xonax said:

It is probably 2.6 Billion cap seals instead of 2.6 Million.

Makes a lot more sense.... 520t for 2.6 mill seals would make those pesky things damn heavy.

 

but.... they still need to prove a positive seal on bottles, and an alternative "cap" may weight even more ( equals more plastic waste)

 

the problem , imho, is more about waste management overall, (yes... including education) than targeting one seemingly insignificant item. So..... cart before horse, as usual

Edited June 12, 2017 by farcanell

[fxe1200]

2 hours ago, jaiyen said:

So how will they seal the bottles? Or will they be unsealed so anyone can go in a shop and easily open the bottle and drink from it and put it back.

 

If you open your eyes, you will find those completely sealed no name water bottles made totally from PE. They are also cheaper, than any brand water.

[Bluetongue]

1 hour ago, MrMo said:

While anything to reduce trash in the environment is good we also need a reduction of trash in the news media.   2.6 million cap seals do not weight 520 tonnes or to simplify it fifty thousand cap seals do not weigh 10 tonnes.

 

Wherever trash reporting occurs the people end up with trash government.

Well I think it's a sub editing error and it is meant to be 2.6billion seals as they were talking about 7 billion bottles

[dotpoom]

"and is of no use at all"

   It might prevent maniacs from poisoning the water in the bottles which has been done with various different products on the shelves before now for the purpose of extortion of money from the manufacturers.

 

[4MyEgo]

1 hour ago, Toshiba66 said:

I think they have much bigger environmental issues to deal with rather than these seals.

 

The litter issue is outrageous. Bangkok is just one big rubbish dump.

So I now guess they will put safety locks on cigarette lighters, nothing to do with the environment really, but just a small potential fire issue in the wrong hands

[Crossy]

Whilst it is actually quite easy to see if a bottle has been opened it does require one to look. Are we all going to check every bottle we pick from the shelf?

 

[theguyfromanotherforum]

I like the plastic seals even though I find them annoying. 

 

They should have started with a plastic bottle which is plenty more massive than a tiny seal.

 

Also, is this for water only or does it include all other sugary drinks like Oishi?

[Xonax]

Why not just use proper waste management.  We have to minimize the use of plastic and maximize recycling. At the end, the remaining waste without plastic, glass and metals should not be dumped in landfills, but rather transformed into energy.  If they can do it in China, they can do it in Thailand:  http://www.sustainableplant.com/2012/03/emerson-to-automate-one-of-china-s-largest-waste-to-energy-facilities/

 

And also remember to minimize the use of fertilizers on farmland and clean ALL waste-water before leading it out in the nature.

 

[farcanell]

18 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

I challenge you to tell if a plastic bottle is opened without actually twisting the cap off.  I'm looking at a bottle of Chang water in front of me right now, and there is no way to tell visually.  I have to twist the cap to see if the tabs have been broken.

 

And that doesn't address the probability that a rat has peed on the cap while crawling all over everything in the delivery truck and store room.

 

Opened or not?

 

Not?

any other votes?

[impulse]

11 minutes ago, Crossy said:

Whilst it is actually quite easy to see if a bottle has been opened it does require one to look. Are we all going to check every bottle we pick from the shelf?

 

Open or not?

 

[Crossy]

9 minutes ago, impulse said:

Open or not?

 

 

Not. I admit my sample was small (Singha water provided by the office).

 

[ddavidovsky]

 

[impulse]

Just now, Crossy said:

 

Not, or maybe it is. I admit my sample was small (Singha water provided by the office).

 

 

Pulled it out of my trash, filled it with tap water and snapped the photo.

 

Some styles are easy to tell visually.  Some, not so much.

 

[jerojero]

Idiot. Cap seal makes the bottle tamper-evident and has value as such.

[anon4637435435]

What about clean drinking water from a tap? (Thats actually ok to drink)

 

If 520t is dumped worth of cap seals imagine what phasing out bottles could achieve. Mind boggling. They are recyclable of course but that whole process isnt as efficiant as people are to believe.

 

Anyway i must say its the best thing ive heard all day. I always thought it was to show the bottle hadn't been tampered with but even the twist seal can be melt sealed again so it puzzled me for years.

[Xonax]

What's Better for the Environment, Paper Bags, Plastic Bags or Reusable Cloth bags?
"Single-use plastic bags outperformed all alternatives, even reusable ones, on environmental performance."

http://www.alternet.org/environment/whats-better-environment-paper-bags-or-reusable-plastic-bags

[johnny49r]

 

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Mr Chatuporn Burutpat, director-general of Pollution Control Department, said over the weekend that most producers of bottled drinking water had pledged to phase out the use of cap seal within a year, starting in all national parks and conference rooms of state agencies where drinking water with cap seal will be banned.

It's easy to pick the low hanging fruit but meanwhile millions of Thais toss their refuse to the side of the road. Plastic bags and other trash cover the landscape because of lack of awareness and public trash disposal. People burn toxic materials and take their garbage in the wee hours of the night to dump in some secluded spot because there are no alternatives.

It seems to me focusing on cap seals is a tad shortsighted compared to the real issue of making changes to the culture and providing basic refuse services.

I'm not saying this is a bad idea but maybe the minister of pollution should set his goals a bit higher. 

[binjalin]

Charge 1 baht for a plastic bag and 99% Thais won't buy them and this is great for the environment

 

Taking away seals without this measure is ignoring the gigantic bag in the room

[MorristheRunt]

Get a serious tax on ALL plastic.

 

The amount of plastic used in Thailand and all of SE Asia is appalling, and without sounding like a washed up hippie, is killing planet earth.

[impulse]

12 minutes ago, Xonax said:

What's Better for the Environment, Paper Bags, Plastic Bags or Reusable Cloth bags?
"Single-use plastic bags outperformed all alternatives, even reusable ones, on environmental performance."

http://www.alternet.org/environment/whats-better-environment-paper-bags-or-reusable-plastic-bags

 

In the article, it states that the key to minimizing the impact of any bag is to re-use it as many times as possible.  That's why I love the plastic bags from BigC and decline the ones from 7-11.

 

The bags from BigC (TESCO, etc) have kept me from having to buy trash bags since I moved to Thailand.  (Okay, one time for big trash) They're the perfect size for about a day's worth of kitchen scraps.

 

The flimsy bags from 7-11 have virtually no secondary use.

 

In both cases (and with the cap seals), it's not the bags that cause the big problem.  It's the lack of solid waste handling.

 

 

Edited June 12, 2017 by impulse

[chainarong]

For the Long term Thai watchers , they will remember that there was no secure caps , they were introduced because of tourists becoming sick drinking water that had been topped up from the mains system and flogged off as spring water , it has nothing whatsoever to do with leaking bottles ............................................................