Abstract
The status of circular economy (CE) in Thailand is reviewed in this chapter. The current CE practices and policy instruments used towards sustainable resource management in Thailand are presented as well. CE indicators for Thailand are extensively studied and summarized in the paper. Based on the review, it is established that the existing policies and programs on CE are focused more towards 3R concepts and less on other sub-sects of CE such as products-as-services, next life sales, product transformation, collaborative consumption, etc. Currently, CE indicators are primarily based on 3R concepts, whereas it is recommended that the other sub-sects of CE should also be taken into consideration to measure the actual CE progress. Employing packaging waste in Thailand as a case study, the current circular economy practice and key barriers to CE implementation were assessed to propose appropriate policy measures for sustainable waste and resources management. There has been an increase in packaging waste in the municipal solid waste (MSW) stream, of which plastic poses a key challenge in the urban waste stream. The current flow of packaging waste is predominated by recycling as downcycling. Most packaging waste remaining at landfills is one-time-use packaging. According to the comprehensive assessment, consumers had positive attitudes towards 3R practices and were conscious of waste problems. Economic incentives and regulatory instruments in line with a new waste management policy framework are recommended to overcome the barriers hindering CE implementation. Packaging waste management policy framework and policy measures are established through this study.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
ADB. (2008). Toward resource-efficient economies in Asia and the Pacific. Japan: Asian Development Bank.
Amrehn, J. (2013). Technologies and management of municipal solid waste in Thailand: Status quo and current developments. Retrieved at https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/Day%202.9_King%20.
Bunyagidj. (2009). The success story of Thai green public procurement project and opportunity of socially responsible investment in Thailand. Retrieved at https://www.slideshare.net/guest3b0c1d17/cb-apo-2009.
Country Report. (2017). Country 3R progress report (draft). Eighth Regional 3R Forum in Asia and the Pacific “achieving clean water, clean land and clean air through 3R and resource efficiency—A 21st century vision for Asia-pacific communities, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India, 9–12 April 2018.
Environnet. (2018). Carbon labelling. Retrieved at http://www.environnet.in.th/en/archives/1503.
IGES. (2013). The 3Rs and sustainable resource circulation – progress in Asia and research activities in IGES. http://www.uncrd.or.jp/content/documents/Hanoi%203R%20ForumPS4_IGES.pdf.
Kamuang, T. & Siriratpiriya, O. (2017). The Kingdom of Thailand. Country Chapter; State of the 3Rs in Asia and the Pacific.
National Statistic Office. (2018). Environment and energy. Retrieved at http://web.nso.go.th/.
PCD. (2005). Municipal solid waste character observation and analysis in all municipalities project, Bangkok, Thailand. Retrieved at http://infofile.pcd.go.th/waste/Reportwaste.pdf?CFID=8235539&CFTOKEN=60317797.
PCD. (2018a). The Pollution Control Department’s roll on pollution management. Retrieved at http://wepa-db.net/3rd/en/meeting/20161130/PDF/14%20Thailand_Country%20updates_WEPA-present%20Hanoi-Thailand-Revised.pdf.
PCD. (2018b). 3Rs initiatives in Thailand. Pollution Control Department. Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Retrieved at https://www.env.go.jp/recycle/3r/en/s_officials/02_02/14.pdf.
PCD. (2018c). Pollution control department. Ministry of natural resources and environment. Retrieved at http://www.pcd.go.th.
Piyapanpong, S. (2018). Thailand’s 3Rs strategy. Pollution Control Department Pollution Control Department Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Retrieved at http://www.uncrd.or.jp/content/documents/Session4_Piyapanpong.pdf.
Pollution Report. (2015). Thailand state of pollution report. Pollution Control Department Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. ISBN. 978-616-316-327-1.
SCG. (2008). SCG paper goes green for sustainability and profitability. Retrieved at https://www.scg.com/en/08news_release/01_news/detail.php?ContentId = 1925.
SCG. (2018). SCG eco value; sustainable development. Retrieved at https://www.scg.com/en/05sustainability_development/eco-value.html.
Supappunt, P. (2011). Carbon footprint label in Thailand. Retrieved at http://www.neaspec.org/sites/default/files/Carbon%20Footprint%20Label%20in%20Thailand_Phakamon.pdf.
TEI. (2018). Criteria for carbon reduction label certification. Retrieved at http://www.tei.or.th/carbonreductionlabel/rule-e.html.
Tippamongkol, J. (2014). Green public procurement in Thailand. Regional workshop on sustainable public procurement and harmonization of eco-labelling. Retrieved at http://www.thai-german-cooperation.info/userfiles/20140521_02_SPP_thailand.pdf.
Toshiba. (2018). Environment. Retrieved at https://www.toshiba.co.jp/env/en/.
UNEP. (2018). A review of green public procurement practices in Thailand. Strengthening the capacities and improving the knowledge on green public procurement and ecolabelling in the ASEAN + 3 region. Retrieved at http://www.oneplanetnetwork.org/sites/default/files/review_of_green_public_procurement_practices_in_thailand.pdf.
UNPAN. (2004). Co environmental indicators of Thailand. Retrieved at http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/apcity/unpan015287.pdf.
Wangwongwatana, S. (2018). 3Rs and waste management in Thailand. Retrieved at http://www.uncrd.or.jp/content/documents/RT1_04_Thailand_rev.pdf.
WMS. (2018). Corporate social responsibility. Retrieved at http://wms-thailand.com/index.php/en/csr.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Tangwanichagapong, S., Logan, M., Visvanathan, C. (2020). Circular Economy for Sustainable Resource Management: The Case of Packaging Waste Sector in Thailand. In: Ghosh, S. (eds) Circular Economy: Global Perspective. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1052-6_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1052-6_19
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-1051-9
Online ISBN: 978-981-15-1052-6
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)