Waste: Thailand Cleans Up Its Act

Robert Horn
ATI Correspondent
Government and industry measures to cut waste, especially plastic waste, are providing an opening for investors . . .

BANGKOK — Thailand has finally said enough is enough. On August 9, the Government officially banned all imports of plastic and electronic waste and revoked all import licenses held by companies importing that waste. The message was clear: Thailand doesn’t want to be the world’s garbage can.
Two decades ago, waste disposal and management was viewed as a growth industry in Thailand. Opportunities abounded.
The country’s industrial base was firing on all cylinders, the population was expanding and consumer culture had taken hold. The need for waste and wastewater treatment, along with other environment-protection businesses, was clear.
The Board of Investment offered generous incentives for foreign firms engaging in waste management and other technologies to protect the environment, and Australian companies were among those investing and reaping the rewards.
“Thailand’s market for environmental technology, with an estimated annual value of AUD3 billion, has been lucrative for Australian environmental technology firms,” the Asia Pacific Economic Environmental Goods and Services Information Exchange reported back in 2003.
“It is expected that the industry will grow at 5–10 per cent per annum. The need to solve environmental problems is still a key priority, and the Thai Government is enthusiastic about privatising as many projects as possible.”
Somewhere along the line, however, things got messy in Thailand’s waste industry.
In recent years, it has become common for tourists to find themselves wading among plastic debris in Thailand’s formerly crystal-clear waters. The problem caught significant attention in June when a pilot whale washed up on a southern Thai beach and died. The whale had starved because it had swallowed 80 plastic bags.
Locals were shocked to learn that Thailand was among the top-10 countries polluting the oceans with plastic waste. In fact, eight of those countries are in Asia and five are in ASEAN. So what when wrong?
Lax enforcement of regulations and investment by unscrupulous players contributed to the problems.
Then, with public awareness and concern about plastic and other types of pollution suddenly on the rise, locals began blowing the whistle on polluting companies.
Inspectors found that several firms supposedly recycling plastic and electronic waste had just been dumping them into pits and fields. Some of that waste, especially electronic waste, poses environmental hazards.
Thais are voracious consumers of plastic. Estimates are that they use between 45 and 70 billion plastic bags every year.
But not all the plastic waste polluting Thailand’s land and seas is refuse from Thais. More than a dozen companies had been importing plastic, electronic and other types of waste from other countries, supposedly for recycling or processing. When earlier this year China banned those types of imports, Thailand became one of the major destinations.
Ironically, investors from China owned all 15 of the companies that Thai inspectors found dumping plastic and electronic waste. All had their operating licenses revoked, essentially putting them out of business.Then the Government announced it would not accept any more imports of plastic or electronic waste.
The Government is taking further steps, such as banning plastic bags and utensils from all 154 national parks. It has committed to a target of reducing the amount of plastic the country is dumping into the oceans by 50 per cent by 2027.
 The Ministry of the Environment has launched a public service advertising campaign with the goal of cutting plastic bag use by 20 per cent by next year, and foam containers by 10 per cent. All 20 Government ministries have vowed to reduce use of plastic.
Leading Thai companies are also beginning to take action. SCG, the building materials conglomerate, has pledged to reduce its manufacture of single-use plastic items by 50 per cent, and is developing products such as asphalt for roads made with plastic refuse.
Thai Union, one of the world’s largest seafood companies, is working with the Global Ghost Gear Initiative on the growing problem of abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear worldwide.  
Clearly though, more needs to be done.
Thailand is setting a good example with its initial attempts to clean up its act. But despite the measures being taken, as long as industry keeps growing and consumers keep consuming, plenty of waste will be generated.
For foreign investors and legitimate firms working in waste management, treatment, environmental sciences and recycling of all types, that translates into opportunities.