Breaking the nation’s bad plastic habits

As of this Sunday, visitors to any of the 154 national parks across the country may get frustrated with the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation’s (DNP) new rule, which prohibits them from bringing single-use plastics and styrofoam food boxes into the compounds. It is an effort to cut non-recyclable waste.

DNP deputy director-general Jongklai Worapongsathorn told the media that park officials are prepared for an earful of complaints from visitors. The DNP, nevertheless, will make cloth bags and non-plastic food containers available for visitors.

I give the DNP a big round of applause for coming up with such a measure. Understandably, the department has seen how plastic waste has harmed pristine nature reserves and wild animals.

The DNP estimates that 3 million plastic bags and styrofoam boxes are left in parks every year. The Pollution Control Department (PCD) estimates that Thailand generates 70 billion single-use plastic bags annually, less than a quarter of which goes to proper waste-management systems.

It takes 500 years for plastic waste to naturally decompose. The incineration method works at temperatures above 800 degrees Celsius, as otherwise it will generate carcinogenic dioxins.

The question is how can we stop the problem.

What we need is a universal ban on plastic bag use, or at least a policy that forces consumers to pay for the waste they produce. Governments across the world have come up with pro-active policies. Last year, Kenya imposed the world’s toughest law ever, imposing a jail term of up to four years or a fine of US$40,000 (1.33 million baht) for producers, sellers and users of plastic bags. Bangladesh encourages the use of shopping bags made of plant fabric. China forces buyers to pay for plastic bags and bans manufacturers from using polyethylene, the least biodegradable substance, to produce plastic bags.

Needless to say, many countries require shoppers to pay for plastic bags, 9 baht each in Iceland and up to 3 baht in Taiwan.

It is unfair to say that Thailand remains idle on this front. The PCD and the Ministry of Finance proposed a packaging tax bill about 20 years ago to levy manufactures who use glass, aluminium, styrofoam, paper and plastic packages for their products.

The bill was vehemently opposed by the Federation of Thai Industrialists, which came up with the same jaded rhetoric — changes in consumer behaviour, not taxation, will reduce plastic waste. They also lamented that such a tax would lead businesses to pass the burden on to consumers. Needless to say, the bill was shelved with no progress.

So what have our government and state agencies done to address the issue? A lack of political will meant that no effective policy have been put in place. They have raised public awareness hoping to change consumers’ behaviour. But take a look at results of the Pollyanna campaign and you will see that Thailand is among the top five countries — along with China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam — that generate more than half of the world’s plastic waste, according to a 2015 Ocean Conservancy report.

Yet, there is an anti-plastic bag campaign that works at Thammasat University’s Rangsit Campus. Earlier, the campus had spent many years persuading students and staff to cut their plastic use, which saw little success. So, it decided to use the stick approach from June.

The new measure requires stores on campus to not offer or sell plastic bags to shoppers. Buyers are advised to bring their own bags, or otherwise the store will provide them with donated cloth bags. In canteen, straws, plastic spoons and forks are provided only upon request. During their first semester, freshmen are given a cloth bag and a bottle for drinking water.

The measure has proved to be a success. During the first two days of its implementation, the number of plastic bags distributed fell by almost 90%. I shopped at 7-Eleven stores at the campus several times and found that staff there did not offer me plastic bags, but a cloth bag. Meanwhile, staff at other 7-Eleven stores still put all kinds of items, including things like a pack of candy, into plastic bags before handing them over to customers.

So, I am convinced that the DNP’s new rule will work like the measure applied at the Rangsit campus because of the strong will of the leaders there.

Reducing plastic bag usage is an achievable mission. All we need to do is to keep a handy cloth bag on the go, and remember to use it.