“A prototype for integrated plastic waste management in National Parks as a model of circular economy in Thailand,” today (20 March 2020) at 14.00, H.E. Mr. Warawut Silpa-Archa, the Minister of National Resources and Environment, presided over the MOU ceremony on operating the project “A prototype for integrated plastic waste management in National Parks as a model of circular economy in Thailand.” This MOU aims to support plastic waste management in National Parks to achieve efficient use of national resources among the Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation; Pollution Control Department; and PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited. Mr. Jatuporn Buruspat, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, joined the event as a witness at the Energy Complex Center, Bangkok.   

H.E. Mr. Warawut Silpa-Archa stated at the opening remark that MNRE had developed Roadmap on Plastic Waste Management 2018 – 2030, to be a framework and direction for plastic waste management in Thailand. Regarding the Roadmap, MNRE has driven the policy of reduce and stop using single-use plastic incorporated with the related agencies, both public and government sectors. The cooperation of this MOU will enhance the plastic waste management in National Park areas to move forward to the target of recycling plastic waste through the circular economy system. According to the MOU, Khao Yai National Park is selected to be a pilot area. Then, the project will be extended to other National Parks as well as other areas to create cooperation with all sectors to work together to move to the same direction towards the Sustainable Development Goals: SDGs, to sustain good environmental quality, to reduce pollution, and to reduce the health impacts of people and ecosystem. 

The cooperation framework of this MOU is 1 year from March 2020 to March 2021, consisting of cooperation in 3 main areas which are 1) promoting and supporting the use of bio-composable plastic packaging instead of using normal single-use plastic that is difficult to recycle; 2) promoting of waste management at the stage of waste separation, innovation development, supporting recycling or upcycling products that are creative to be added value; 3) disseminating and public relation information and news to create new culture of effective use and management as well as developing shared responsibility in society with ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the project to become concrete implementation.