Unwanted waste to be sent home

The Customs Department will send more than 12,000 tonnes of unclaimed scrap plastic and electronic waste shipments back to their original countries.

The waste is in 600 shipment containers which have been left unclaimed by the importers for over a month, department spokesman, Chaiyut Kumkun, told the media yesterday.

The department has already extended the customs clearance deadline for 15 days, but no one has turned up to fill out the documentation, he said.

As such, the shipments will now be sent back to their countries of origin, he said, adding that the importers’ representatives or the shipment companies concerned will be contacted and ordered to handle this.

Apart from these shipments, 675 other similar containers have been left unclaimed for 30 days. The department is contacting the companies that imported the containers to request that they be collected within 15 days.

In addition, t here are 2,185 unclaimed containers loaded with plastic and electronic waste in the department’s care.

Imported electronic and plastic waste has become a major issue in Thailand.

Last year, a total of 166,000 tonnes of scrap plastic was imported into the country, and 147,000 tonnes in the first half of this year alone.

The government is considering using a Section 44 order to ban electronic waste imports amid growing concerns over an influx of illegal, hazardous trash.

The Industrial Works Department, meanwhile, has suspended the licences of five importers of scrap electronics after they allegedly illegally hired factories to recycle more than 14,000 tonnes of such waste.

Some factories are reportedly owned by f oreigners to receive toxic rubbish from foreign countries where recycling is costly.

Mr Chaiyut said the department has adopted a new policy to push back shipments where importers cannot provide documents to show they have official clearance to recycle the waste.