The Thai Public Broadcasting Service (Thai PBS) reports that January 1, 2021 is the so-called "D-Day" and the end of disposable plastic bags in the Kingdom. Thai PBS reports on the light at the end of the tunnel for the use of plastic bags in Thailand.
The Thai Public Broadcasting Service reported that an agreement has been reached between the Ministry of the Environment and major retailers such as CP Group (7-Eleven), Central and The Mall Group stating that the delivery of plastic bags to customers will cease on January 1, 2020 becomes.
This, according to the Department of the Environment, will result in an immediate 30% reduction in the billions of bags that Thai people receive each year in their purchases.
There are strategies to encourage the so-called "mom and pop" shops and fresh produce markets, in the meantime, to follow the suggestion and imitate the "big one". The goal will then be that Thailand from 1 January 2021 will be free of all plastic bags.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment will work to make the ban on disposable plastics a legal requirement by D-Day.
The Ministerial Leader and Member of the Chart Thai Pattana Party, Mr. Warawut Silpa-archa, a relative of a former Thai Prime Minister, is leading the campaign.
Thailand has been named one of the leading polluters by the use of billions of plastic bags. The country has been described in numerous international media as the sixth worst polluter of the oceans worldwide.
Thai PBS further reports that already existing measures would have resulted in already 2 billion plastic bags being used less last year.
However, these were only the first steps - the goal is a total ban and a complete change in the mindset and behavior of the Thai people, writes Thai PBS.
At a meeting of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (TSQ) with the Ministry of Quality and Environment on September 6, the large department store retailers and convenience store operators in Thailand were also joined by Mr. Warawut Silpa-archa , invited to the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment. He is the president of the campaign and will listen to the advances and suggestions of the private sector on plastic waste.
Mr. Warawut said at the meeting that the problem of plastic waste has been discussed for a long time. Now is the time for the daily life of the Thai people to change. Please bring a cloth bag when you go shopping. Then he turned to the Ministry of Resources and asked them to prepare a law to dispense plastic bags and then submit it to the Cabinet.
For people who still need the plastic bags, he suggested that they may then have to buy the plastic bags for 2 - 3 Baht.
"Today, the Thai people have to get up to protect the environment. Preserve our land for future generations ".
"We may have asked for a campaign in the past, but we must finally change the rules into laws to raise the world's sixth largest marine litter ranking by a double-digit ranking."
"I would like to ask all Thais to put their garbage in the bin and finally break off with the plastic bags," he concluded.
Sources: Ocean care, RBS News, thailandpakchong, thailandtip