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

future is the same as current situation. Therefore, the percentage of plastic waste
management of the scenario 1 in 2016 will be the same as the material flow of plastics in
2010 as showing in Table 4.6.
The scenario 2 was proposed to predict the effects of the National Environmental Quality
Control Plan in 2012-2016, 3Rs law (scenario 2A), and plastic bag taxation (scenario 2B).
Three issues have the same objectives like increase of 30% of plastic recycling rate. There
were two proposed sub-scenarios of this scenario such as scenario 2A and scenario 2B.
Table 4.6 presents the percentage of plastic waste management of each scenario.
Finally, the scenario 3 focused on the increase in waste to energy options based on the
alternative energy development plan (AEDP) in 2012-2021. The percentage of all waste to
energy scheme in the material flow of this scenario will increase in 2016.
Table 4.6 Percentage of Plastic Waste Management of Each Scenario
% Plastic waste management Scenario 1 Scenario 2A Scenario 2B Scenario 3
Exported waste 9.5% 15% 15% 9.5%
Municipal incineration 2% 2% 2% 10%
Industrial incineration 0% 5% 5% 10%
Recycling 14% 30% 30% 14%
Oil recovery 0% 0% 0% 10%
Reuse 0% 10% 5% 0%
Landfill 37% 30% 40% 37%
Open environment 37.5% 8% 3% 9.5%
4.3.1.1 Scenario 1: Business as Usual (BAU)
The concept of this scenario is "change nothing" compared to the plastic waste
management in 2010. Therefore, the percentage of waste management will be the same in
2010 such as 14% of recycling rate, 37% of landfilling, and 2% of municipal incineration.
Similarly, the industrial plastic wastes will managed by the same portion of waste
treatment and disposal in 2010. The calculation of each flow in the scenario 1 is presented
in Table E-3 in Appendix E.
The scenario 1 was created in order to show the effect of the plastic waste management in
Thailand in 2016. The first estimation was done with the amount of plastic production in
the manufacturing process. The growth rates of plastic pellet consumption and imported
pellets were 3% and 13% respectively. The growth rate of thermosetting pellets was 8%,
while the forecast of amount of thermoplastic pellets was done by deducting total plastic
pellet consumption by the amount of thermosetting pellets. The calculated amounts of
plastic pellet consumption and imported pellets are shown in Table E-1 in Appendix E.
Figure 4.28 shows the material flow of plastics in Thailand in 2016; the scenario 1.
Due to the increase of Thai population in 2016, the amount of municipal plastic waste
generation will increase to 2.6 million tonnes in 2016, while the amount of industrial will
be 2.1 million tonnes. The details of waste estimation from industry and municipality are
presented in Table E-2 in Appendix E.
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