On 6 August 2022, Mr. Athapol Charoenshunsa, Director General of the Pollution Control Department (PCD), revealed that waste management is still a problem that the government has focused on solving continuously. Since the 1st National Solid Waste Management Master Plan B.E. 2559-2564 (2016-2021) had ended, MNRE by PCD has prepared the 2nd National Action Plan on Waste Management (B.E. 2565-2570) (2022-2026) as an integrated master plan to mobilized waste management activities continuously by using brainstorming technique with all relevant sectors. In addition, at the Meeting of the National Environment Board No. 3/2022 on 3rd August 2022, the Board approved the Plan and assigned relevant organizations to implement activities under the Plan. \
Mr. Athapol said that the 2nd National Action Plan aims to upgrade waste management covering plastic waste, packaging waste, food waste, solid waste, hazardous waste, electronic waste and electronic equipment, infectious waste, and hazardous industrial waste. The management is focused on the waste solution at source according to the product life cycle to prevent debris from occurring, including life cycle eco-design, for eco-friendly products promoting sustainable consumption by selecting environmentally friendly products, which can be reused and recycled, as well as separating system at the source to maximize the recovery of resources from waste, both in the form of material recovery and energy recovery, to minimize final disposal.
The 2nd National Action Plan on Waste Management B.E. 2565-2570 (2022 – 2027) has five important targets; (1) 80% of municipal solid waste will be managed appropriately by increasing 36% of separating household waste and recycling. The disposal will focus on incineration for energy recovery to reduce improper open dumping, open burning, and landfill. (2) 74-100% of waste will be recycled into recycled materials, including plastic waste, paper, glass, and aluminum packaging waste. (3) 28% of food waste will be decreased to reduce the bad smell from solid waste and greenhouse gas (4) At least 50% of household hazardous waste will be managed appropriately, and (5) 100% of infectious waste and hazardous industrial waste must be managed appropriately too. We are committed to making waste a renewable resource, and waste disposal must not impact people and the environment. The vision of this evidence is “New normal waste management for a clean environment and step forwards to sustainable economic and social development,” Mr. Athapol said.
Credit: www.pcd.go.th, https://greendigitallibrary.deqp.go.th/