30 state hospitals to bin plastic bags

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30 state hospitals under the Department of Medical Services (DMS) are to stop providing patients with plastic bags to take medication home in from Oct 1.

The policy change was announced yesterday to mark World Environment Day.

People who go to these hospitals from Oct 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year, are advised to bring their own cloth bags to carry medicines they may be given, DMS director-general Somsak Akkhasilp said.

That is part of the Public Health Ministry’s policy to improve its waste management, contribute to efforts to reduce global warming, reduce costs and encourage more public participation in environmental protection, Dr Somsak said.

He said 18 of the 30 hospitals under the DMS have already been piloting the project and stopped giving plastic bags to patients.

However, the other 12 hospitals handed out a total of 9.01 million plastic bags over the last year, at a cost of 2.5 million baht, he said.

The 30 hospitals are in all regions of the country and include Lerdsin Hospital, Nopparat Rajathanee Hospital, Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health and Prasat Neurological Institute in Bangkok.

All over the world, advocates are pushing for bans on single-use plastic items and some governments are responding.

The European Union, for instance, proposed new rules that would apply to the entire bloc, targeting plastic products commonly found on its beaches and in its seas and which make up 70% of the continent’s marine litter, according to media reports.

The ban would apply to cotton swabs, cutlery, plates, straws, drink stirrers and balloon sticks, meaning those products would need to be made exclusively from more sustainable materials.

In the US, New York City, for instance, has introduced a new bill to ban the use of plastic straws in restaurants, bars, cafes, food carts, stadiums and other service establishments in the city.