Page 22 - Plastics News Issue - January 2025
P. 22
ENVIRONMENT NEWS
situation highlights the need for better manage- effective communication in handling such issues.
ment of industrial waste in India. It serves as a Source: - One India
reminder of the importance of timely action and
THAILAND BANS ALL PLASTIC WASTE IMPORTS
Illegal waste trafficking has been an area of par-
ticular concern and is another target of the ban.
A 2024 report by the UN Office on Drugs and
Crime (UNODC) and the UN Environment Pro-
gramme (UNEP) highlights that Southeast Asia
remains a key destination for illicit waste ship-
ments.
In August, environmental campaigners such as
the Basel Action Network (BAN) raised the alarm
about two Maersk-chartered ships suspected of
carrying hazardous waste from Albania to Thai-
s of January 1 2025, Thailand has official- land.
ly banned the import of plastic waste. In-
Atroduced by the Natural Resources and Thailand’s plastic plan
Environment Ministry, the ban was approved by Discussions on the ban began in 2020, and a
Thailand’s Cabinet on December 3 2024, and plan to phase out the imports has been in place
published in the Royal Gazette later that month.
since 2023. Since then, only 14 Thai factories in
The ban includes amendments to Thailand’s Tar- tariff-free zones have been allowed to import
iff Schedule, which covers the import of waste, and utilise these items for export purposes.
pairings, and plastic scraps. As a result, a com- The ban is part of a broader effort to reduce
plete ban of all imports of plastic waste has been plastic waste in Thailand under the Roadmap on
enacted from January 2025 onwards.
Plastic Waste Management for 2020-2030 re-
Thailand has been one of several Southeast leased in 2019. Goals include a ban of several
Asian nations commonly paid to receive plastic types of single-use plastics and a 100 per cent
waste imports from Europe, the US, the UK and recycling rate for domestic plastic waste.
Japan, with 50,000 tonnes of waste exported The ban may also be a response to the recent
from Japan to Thailand in 2023.
failure of the international community to reach a
Thailand became the leading destination for binding, global agreement on plastic pollution at
these imports after China’s ban in 2018. Statis- the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee
tics from the Customs Department suggest that (INC-5) meetings in November.
the amount of imported plastic waste jumped to Source:- Resource.co
more than 500,000 tonnes in 2018 - a tenfold
increase from the average amount before 2015.
22 PLASTICS NEWS January 2025
