Page 38 - FoodFocusThailand No.171 June 2020

SPECIAL FOCUS
SPECIAL FOCUS

Breathing a New Sustainable Life to

“Plastic Waste”

According to the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2019, Thailand landed on
the 31 spot among 140 countries, upping itself from the 34 place in 2017. In comparison with the ASEAN
st
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community, Thailand was ranked 3 , following Singapore and Malaysia. The Conde Nast Traveller magazine
rd
conducted a survey for the readers’ most favorite travel destinations in which up to 600,000 international
readers participated, and the 32 Readers’ Choice Awards 2017 ranked Thailand on the 2 place on
nd
nd
the world’s top 20 favorite countries list. But more interestingly, a small nation like Thailand, successfully
regarded as one of the leading tourism destinations, also finds itself on the 5 spot among the world’s top
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ocean-polluting countries!

Literally Down in the “Dumps”
Throw it all away…Thai population annually produces more than 27
million tons of trash, the total weight of which is imaginably comparable
to that of 5.56 million elephants. The so-called heavenly metropolitan
of Bangkok alone churns out one-fifths of the country’s total waste.
Interestingly, more than half of over 8 million tons of rubbish that has
ended up in the ocean is made of plastic.
Thailand cranks out more than 27.93 million tons of refuse each
year, only 10.85 tons, or just 26%, of which are effectively handled
for proper disposal. As substance never disappears, it is unsurprising
that this “trash” issue may eventually spell “trouble”.
Plastic is a synthetic material invented to solve our problems,
satisfy our needs, and make our lives easier…a long-time friend that
we have known for more than 130 years.
Nevertheless, due to an endless influx of environmental issues,
our “plastic” friend has inevitably become part of the problem. We
have seen and heard the news about several environmental
repercussions caused by plastic rubbish. We have also witnessed information on waste management processes.
green campaigns initiated by many organizations or foundations to Thailand already has existing procedure for waste management
address such problems. such as the buyback of plastic bottles, glass bottles, and aluminum
Plastic bottles, cups, containers, or even bag scraps and films cans for further recycling process or the separation of wet organic
are created by human’s modern technology, but when post-use plastic waste. It takes, however, several hundred years for a single-used
materials are not properly handled, many problems will ensue. plastic bag or film to naturally decompose, and this is the reason why
“Plastic is one of the top challenges in waste management for many countries in the world, including Thailand, need to reduce and
Thai society.” Mr.Kamol Borrisuttanakul, Chief Financial Officer, TPBI stop using plastic bags in daily life. Following the 2018-2030 roadmap
Public Company Limited, commented while providing interesting for plastic waste elimination, the Ministry of Natural Resources and
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