Time for action on garbage crisis

The pictures and story about the nearly 100 tonnes of garbage floating around the Gulf of Thailand have made many people aware of the consequences of unabated consumerism with little respect for the environment. The floating garbage, as it is being called, is reportedly threatening marine life, and authorities have come out to say that the cleaning up of this mess will take up to 10 days. That is always assuming the garbage remains in its current location because over the days it has been moving. On Friday the garbage was 10 kilometres away from the position it was on Thursday. The 100 tonnes of rubbish was initially spotted in Chumphon province earlier in the week and since then the island of garbage has been drifting northwards.

As of Friday, the garbage was drifting between Koh Talu in Bang Saphan Noi district and a headland of Ao Mae Ramphueng in Bang Saphan district. Koh Talu is a popular shallow-water dive site in Prachuap Khiri Khan province.

Officials expect to be working in the area for 10 days and will use speedboats and small fishing nets to collect the garbage.

The floating garbage has made the headlines and thus made people aware of environmental problems, but what is saddening to hear is the fact that Thailand along with some other Asian nations is one of the world’s worst offenders for dumping garbage into the sea.

A recent report by Ocean Conservancy has placed Thailand along with the likes of China, the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia as among the world’s leading polluters of the ocean. Improved waste management in these countries, the report said, could reduce the plastic waste that enters the ocean by as much as 45% over the next 10-years. These five countries reportedly spew as much as 60% of the world’s plastic waste that enters the sea.

The report says that unless appropriate steps are taken by 2025, there will be one tonne of plastic waste in the ocean for every three tonnes of finfish because an estimated 8 million tonnes of waste is entering the ocean each year.

Such data are an indication of how bad things could get in the near future unless appropriate measures are taken to minimise the impact.

The fact that a lot of the garbage is piled up in various dump sites across the country, and some are located close to canals or rivers, is in itself a disaster waiting to happen.

Unlike many countries around the world which have been banning or imposing taxes on the use of plastic, Thailand along with some of the other countries in the top five list of ocean garbage dumpers has few if any measures in place to discourage the use of plastic.

Like many of the countries, Thailand has no such taxes that could be collected from plastic makers that could be used to fund recycling plants or clean-up processes.

What is worse is the fact that very few incentives are available for companies that recycle garbage to either energy or other reusable products.

A walk down the various wet markets, hypermarkets or even basic places such as food courts will let you see sellers handing out plastic bags to customers. This is a sight that is often too common for those living in this part of the world, while at the same time the use of plastic bottles flourishes in Asian nations.

Civic sense of how to separate waste among the people of the country remains next to minimal and the job of separation is usually left to scavengers, who separate plastic bottles from plastic bags and end up helping clear some of the garbage.

All this calls into question the commitment of Thailand to the various deals to which it has been a signatory. Many of the global climate change treaties that the country has signed call for a cleaner environment, but when it comes to implementation the country has failed to implement some of the key measures that could help keep the kingdom in better shape for the generations to come.

The fact that a lot of the garbage is piled up in various dump sites across the country, and some are located close to canals or rivers, is in itself a disaster waiting to happen. A flood like the great one seen in 2011 or the recent floods in the South, which has been blamed for the 100 tonnes of garbage floating around, could be the trigger.

The unpredictable weather conditions in the country could be the last straw that could prompt a disaster similar to the one in the Gulf of Thailand that is currently happening.

The majority of the garbage consists of plastic and is harmful to corals and marine life, especially turtles and dolphins that might mistake it for jellyfish and eat it.

The government and private sector need to take immediate action to clear up the garbage mess that the country is facing, while incentives should be offered to the general public who make the effort to minimise waste. Incentives should also be offered to those who separate recyclable trash.

It is through these kind of concentrated efforts on all fronts that the garbage problems can be tackled.