Evaluation of Plastic Waste Management in Thailand Using Material ...

Abstract
Rapid increase in the usage of plastic products in urbanized and industrialized societies
causes many environmental problems. Plastic has almost become an invincible commodity
used in modern world. Plastic is used in almost every form as in packaging, automobiles,
electronic and electrical products, agriculture use of plastics, medical devices, housewares,
and many other applications. The three major sources of plastic waste generation are
agricultural, industrial and municipal waste.
Thailand is one of the significantly larger plastic manufacturers and consumers in Asia.
This study looks into the plastic waste generation and management situation of Thailand,
with 2010 as the base year. The aim of the study is to identify and quantify the flows and
stocks of plastic waste in Thailand. Other objectives include; identification and assessment
of the roles and importance of stakeholders that are relevant in plastic waste management
in Thailand. Various scenarios are also devised to present the possible cases of plastic
waste generation in future, also with possibilities of various management decisions to be
adopted to handle ever growing plastic waste in the country. The proposed scenarios look
into the issues of improvement in recycling rate as a policy target, need and use of
appropriate technologies, and simple assessment of the plastic waste management
economics.
The methodology of the study includes extensive literature reviews for familiarization of
the subject matter, and surveys, interviews and field observations (with key manufactures,
policymakers, informal and formal waste shops, plastic recycling units, and consumers) to
validate the existing information as well as collect first-hand data. Material Flow Analysis
is used to quantify the flows and stocks of plastic waste in Thailand
This study reveals that amount of municipal plastic waste generation in Thailand in the
year 2010 was 2.57 million tonnes (17% of the total municipal solid waste generated in
that year). Nearly 1.83 tonnes of plastic waste generation was from the industrial waste.
Total input of plastic materials of this system boundary is 4.86 million tonnes/year, and
amount of total stock of this system boundary is 2.34 million tonnes/year. Approximately,
2.52 million tonnes/year is the total output. Three plastic waste management scenarios
were proposed to predict the plastic waste management in 2016: scenario 1 of the business
as usual (BAU) case, increase in recycling rate by 30% as scenario 2, and increase in the
plastic waste to energy measures as scenario 3. Among these three scenarios, the potential
adoption of scenario 2 offers the best case scenario for plastic waste management in
Thailand, as this scenario promotes plastic (material) recycling offering the benefits of
material recirculation at the production process by reducing the dependency on the virgin
petrochemical products, offering private sectors to establish profitable recycling business,
offering environmental benefits of recycling, and thus supporting the local government
authorities to manage the plastic waste.
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