country list: Thailand

Plastic use rising in SEA due to COVID-19

13 April 2020, Bangkok, Thailand: Single-use plastic bags are making a comeback as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

After their use was restricted at the start of the year, plastic bags can once again be seen littering the streets of greater Bangkok as people begin to rely on take-outs and food delivery services to adhere to the government’s social distancing guidelines, said director-general of the Pollution Control Department (PCD), Pralong Dumrongthai.

According to the PCD, the volume of plastic waste has increased significantly since March 26, when the government banned restaurants from serving dine-in patrons. “Most of the waste is ready-to-eat food packages, plastic utensils and glass,” he said.

According to Dumrongthai, the problem is compounded by the absence of a public campaign to educate people about the importance of sorting their waste.

“People tend to combine their garbage, often mixing food scraps with recyclables, which makes it harder for garbage collectors to sort it out and recycle,” he said.

With grocery stores being one of the few places still open during COVID-19 lockdowns, disposable plastic bags are also making a comeback as some people fear that reusable bags could spread the disease. Before the pandemic, a growing number of governments banned single-use plastic bags in an effort to cut down on waste. But as the novel coronavirus has spread around the globe, people are increasingly concerned about coming in close contact with other people and their possessions, including reusable bags. 

More information on Bangkok Post

Supermarkets in Ho Chi Minh City to be free of plastic bags by the end of this year

3 April 2020, HCMC, Viet Nam: All supermarkets, trade centres, convenience stories, and bookstores in Ho Chi Minh City are striving to replace plastic bags with environmentally friendly options by the end of this year.

This move is part of the city’s programme launched in mid-2019 to fight against plastic waste.

The programme also targets a 50% of reduction in plastic bag consumption among traders at traditional markets

The municipal authorities have ordered for the set-up of drop-off collection points where people can swap plastic waste and used plastic products for gifts or consumer goods.

Local residents are also encouraged to classify their garbage in a bid to reduce the harmful effects of household waste on the environment and to increase recycling capacity.

A survey conducted by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Natural Resources and Environment found that the volume of plastic trash in the city is just behind that of food waste, with an estimated 250,000 tonnes of plastic waste discarded each year.

According to the City’s waste recycling fund, if the 48,000 tonnes of plastic waste which is buried in the southern metropolis each year is instead recycled, the city would save about VND 15 billion (US$660,000) annually.

More information on Nhan Dan (‘people’) newspaper 

#CleanSeas #StayHome challenge

4 May 2020: Children worldwide are out of school and learning from home, as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

It can be difficult to occupy your children with exciting activities for hours on end, especially when you may also be working from home.

UNEP are inviting you to to take part in a creative new social media challenge, focusing on plastic pollution and recycling.

Get involved without even leaving the house, by getting creative with the everyday plastic waste in your household, and learning more about plastic waste at the same time.

Your child can chose from a range of activity suggestions and post their plastic waste activity on social media using the #CleanSeas and #StayHome hashtags for a chance to be featured on UNEP social media channels.

Ideas:

  1. Make a musical instrument out of plastic rubbish
  2. Sorting your plastic items
  3. Have a plastic-free spa day
  4. Make a boat from plastic waste- see if it floats!
  5. Put on a fashion show of clothes made from plastic waste

Idea 1: make a musical instrument out of plastic rubbish

Encourage your children to use (clean) plastic rubbish to make their own instruments. They can even put on a concert for you or for social media. Click here to get some inspiration for the instruments you could make.

Idea 2: go through your cupboards and sort its content, like utensils, etc. into the type of material they are made of

Every day we use lots of plastic products without thinking about their impact on the planet. Go into your kitchen cupboards with your child and ask them to sort everything into the type of material (plastics, cardboard, aluminum, etc.) Ask your children to pick out the items that can be recycled and show them where on the packaging they can see if its recyclable or not. The United Nations Environment Programme Clean Seas educational pack can help to show children in greater detail what different types of plastic are out there, and ways that they can reduce their use of them.

Idea 3: have a plastic-free spa day

You might not be able to go out to a spa, but that doesn’t mean you can’t bring the spa to you! From baby wipes to scrubs with microplastics in (plastic pieces smaller than 5 mm), plastic is hidden in plain sight in many personal care products. Here you can see some of the sources of plastic pollution in your bathroom. A great way to combat hidden plastics is to have a do-it-yourself family home spa day. You can show your children how to make great natural scrubs from coconut oil, sugar and salt, and you can also make face masks from honey and bananas. Make some home treatments, put on some calming music, and relax.

Idea 4: make a boat out of plastic waste

Many things that seem like soon-to-be trash can be given a fun new lease of life. Using plastic that you might otherwise throw away, help your child to make a small plastic raft or boat. They can put them in the bath or sink to see if they float and even take their toys on a boat ride! If possible, you could even take them to your local pond or stream and have raft races.

A recent Clean Seas campaign took part in this activity on a larger scale. A nine-metre long dhow made from 10 tonnes of recycled trash found on Kenya’s shorelines called “Flipflopi” sailed from Lamu, Kenya to Zanzibar raising awareness about plastic pollution.

Idea 5: put on a fashion show of clothes made out of rubbish

Upcycling—or “making new furniture, objects, etc. out of old or used things or waste material”—is one of the best fashion trends for the environment. In 2016, American Rob Greenfield wore every piece of trash he created in a month, turning it into a bulky trash-suit. Why not get your child to make some stylish fashion accessories out of plastic waste? They can put on a fashion show for you with their new creations!

There are many more ways that you can teach your children about plastic pollution and its impacts. UNEP’s Clean Seas website has advice for how to reduce your plastic footprint, and the impact that plastic pollution is having.

More information

More activities for homeschooling about the oceans! Take a virtual dive:

The Ocean Agency, a partner of the United Nations Environment Programme, is inviting parents and their little ones to experience the ocean and its astounding life forms from the comfort of their homes through a little armchair travel. Get inspired and engaged with virtual dives, expeditions and ocean quizzes about the fascinating underwater world in a click on your phone or laptop.

Find out more

Hotels in SEA focus on ‘less plastic wasted’ when they re-open for business after COVID-19

UNEP is working with the hotel and hospitality sector in South-East Asia to reduce plastic use when they re-open for business after COVID-19.

27 March 2020, Bangkok, Thailand: As the tourism industry faces a crisis in South-East Asia due to coronavirus restrictions on travel, hotels are experiencing an unprecedented hiatus to ‘business as usual’. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is continuing to work with hotel personnel to leverage this time to reduce their operation’s plastic waste – with a goal to eradicate marine litter in South-East Asia.

The SEA circular initiative has held the first of many industry e-Roundtables to link-up private sector professionals in a joint effort to explore synergies to tackle the regional marine litter problem together.

Plastic is ubiquitous in the hospitality industry. From the cups, straws, coffee lids, shampoo bottles, amenity kits, water bottles, and room minibars, to the hotel breakfast buffets, event spaces, back-of-house activities and supply chain distributors, plastics are everywhere in the industry – supporting requirements for convenience, sanitation and aesthetic appeal.

UNEP and the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA) – are working with the hotel sector through the SEA circular initiative, funded by the Government of Sweden. With the ultimate goal to inspire market-based solutions and encourage enabling policies to prevent marine plastic pollution, the project is working with South-East Asian governments, businesses and community-led organizations, with the goal of ‘less plastic wasted’ throughout the region.

Prominent hotels in South-East Asia are pioneering the field in the drive towards less plastic wasted. Through the SEA circular project, UNEP is working to ensure that the best practices and learnings from these enterprises serve to drive regional industry standards towards less plastic wasted. SEA circular is working with industry leaders – including the Phuket Hotel Association in Phuket, Thailand.

Phuket Hotel Association, Thailand: “Sustainable Phuket”

The Phuket Hotel Association (PHA) is an influential network of 75 hotels based in the island of Phuket, Thailand. The organization has set itself ambitious goals to make Phuket a sustainable destination, through responsible best practice.  They are also the driving force behind an annual event launched in 2019 – the Phuket Hotels for Islands Sustaining Tourism (PHIST), billed as Asia’s largest, most innovative, and most important movement to bring sustainability to the region’s hospitality and tourism industry.

“We are continually engaging with our members and working to train key personnel to reduce plastic usage,” said Jayne MacDougall, Director of Risk Management, Le Meridian Phuket Beach Resort and Environmental Working Group, PHA.

 “We started with the complete elimination of plastic bottles and straws from all our hotels, focusing on front-of-house. We have since launched a ‘Big Green Book’ of reputable suppliers and distributorsand we connect regularly with our hotels to support their monitoring and reduction of plastic waste.”

At the SEA circular e-Roundtable: Reducing plastic waste in the hospitality industry” event on 27 March 2020, PHA announced a collaboration with the Global Tourism Plastic Initiative (GTPI), led by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and UNEP, in collaboration with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

This initiative unites the tourism sector behind a common vision to tackle the root causes of plastic pollution, enabling businesses and governments to take joint action.

“The collaboration of PHA with the GTPI will scale up our endeavours towards tackling plastic waste in Phuket,” said Jayne. “Our goal is to protect our sublime natural environment in Southern Thailand, and for PHA to inspire behaviour change throughout the industry – through our collaboration with UNEP and UNWTO.”

SEA circular e-Roundtable for the hospitality sector:

SEA circular is holding a series of ‘e-Roundtable events’ for various sectors  to support plastic pollution prevention. For the hospitality industry, the e-Roundtable was held for hoteliers and tourism accommodation owners. Hoteliers discussed best practices, lessons learned and incentives for aggregate industry action. The aim was to support and urgently scale-up plastic waste reduction initiatives and commitments. The e-Roundtable explored solutions for more challenging issues, including the plastic items coming in from suppliers and from back-of-house activities. These involve areas which are not customer-facing – but are no less damaging.

SEA circular’s engagement with key players in the hotel industry will also provide vital opportunities for industry information-sharing amongst common initiatives. The ultimate goal is that collective monitoring and promotion of best practices can drive industry standards towards less plastic wasted. Concrete solutions include; reducing plastic packaging used for bathroom amenities, reducing the use of plastic bags in hotel rooms, reduction of plastic water bottles, and the elimination of plastic straws and single use plastic food or drink containers. Other initiatives to support a more circular approach to waste management include the installation of separate trash bins and waste segregation, as well as incentives and awareness-raising for guests to commit to use less plastic

More information and get involved

BYO schemes under threat in South-East Asia due to coronavirus

25 March 2020, Bangkok, Thailand: Bring your own (BYO) container schemes are being suspended across the region due to concerns about cross-contamination from reusable containers. 

In a new report, Eco-Business highlights some food and beverage (F&B) organizations which are suspending their BYO schemes, due to the fear from retailers and customers that reusable containers will spread the virus.

BYO schemes were formerly successfully implemented by Starbucks across the region, Koi bubble tea and Raffles Quay Asset Management in Singapore, amongst others.

Starbucks has temporarily withdrawn the BYO option in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Japan and China. In China, 4,300 stores were closed at the start of the outbreak. The BYO scheme is still currently in place in Singapore and the Philippines.

In Malaysia and Thailand, where populations are increasingly facing ever tighter restrictions on movement, all food and beverage outlets are closed to the public, but remain open for delivery services. With the majority of the population unable to leave their homes, this is anticipated to lead to a surge in F&B delivery services. The use of disposable F&B containers for delivery items is likely to escalate as a result.

It is important to note that ceasing BYO schemes are all voluntary actions from the F&B businesses themselves, not Government bans. 

More information on the Eco-Business website

Waste management an essential public service in the fight to beat COVID-19

Geneva, 24 March 2020: With the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic continuing to spread and its impacts upon human health and the economy intensifying day-by-day, governments are urged to treat waste management, including of medical, household and other hazardous waste, as an urgent and essential public service in order to minimise possible secondary impacts upon health and the environment.

During such an outbreak, many types of additional medical and hazardous waste are generated, including infected masks, gloves and other protective equipment, together with a higher volume of non-infected items of the same nature. Unsound management of this waste could cause unforeseen “knock-on” effects on human health and the environment. The safe handling, and final disposal of this waste is therefore a vital element in an effective emergency response.

Effective management of biomedical and health-care waste requires appropriate identification, collection, separation, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal, as well as important associated aspects including disinfection, personnel protection and training. The UN Basel Convention’s Technical Guidelines on the Environmentally Sound Management of Biomedical and Healthcare Wastes, includes information and practical aspects of waste management useful for authorities seeking to minimise hazards to human health and the environment.

Further resources on the safe handling and final disposal of medical wastes can be found on the website of the Basel Convention’s Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific, in Beijing, which lists a series of guidance documents and best practices. 

The safe management of household waste is also likely to be critical during the COVID-19 emergency. Medical waste such as contaminated masks, gloves, used or expired medicines, and other items can easily become mixed with domestic garbage, but should be treated as hazardous waste and disposed of separately. These should be separately stored from other household waste streams and collected by specialist municipality or waste management operators. Guidelines on the specificities of recycling or disposing of such waste is given in detail in the Basel Convention’s Factsheet on Healthcare or Medical Waste.

Parties to the Basel Convention are currently working on a guidance document for soundly managing household waste and whilst not yet finalized, an initial draft may be consulted for provisional guidance. 

The BRS Executive Secretary, Rolph Payet, stated that “All branches of society are coming together to collectively beat the virus and to minimize the human and economic impact of COVID-19 across the world. In tackling this enormous and unprecedented challenge, I urge decision-makers at every level: international, nationally, and at municipal, city and district levels, to make every effort to ensure that waste management, including that from medical and household sources, is given the attention – indeed priority – it requires in order to ensure the minimization of impacts upon human health and the environment from these potentially hazardous waste streams.”

More information 

E-Roundtable: Reducing plastic waste in the hospitality industry

South-East Asia marine litter and plastic circular economy initiatives coordination workshop

Ocean Innovation Challenge

UNDP has launched a new call to action— Ocean Innovation Challenge (OIC) to accelerate progress on SDG 14 targets. The OIC seeks innovations that are transferable, replicable and scalable. The Challenge grants range from US$50,000 to US$250,000.

Enter the challenge

Recognizing the increasing urgency of tackling ocean pollution, particularly from plastics and nutrients, the first of several planned OICs focuses on SDG 14.1- Reduce Marine Pollution.

“At a time when the world’s oceans and seas face unprecedented pressures, UNDP’s new Ocean Innovation Challenge will shine a light on innovative, entrepreneurial and creative approaches that can advance ocean and coastal restoration and protection,” says Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator.

“Supporting the blue economy in this way can help us achieve SDG 14— while spurring economic development and helping to reduce poverty and inequality.”

From fisheries to aquaculture to industrial agriculture, the ‘business as usual’ scenario will not deliver the kinds of transformational change needed to move towards truly sustainable ocean use.

“With four of SDG14’s ten targets maturing in 2020, we have a critical year ahead for the well-being of the Ocean. Thus the UN Ocean Conference, to be held 2-6 June 2020 in Lisbon, will have special importance in supporting the implementation of SDG14,” says Peter Thomson, UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on Oceans.

“To achieve SDG14, we must break new ground with innovative technologies, policies, regulations and financial instruments. In this regard, the new UNDP Ocean Innovation Challenge is a most welcome addition to the growing number of ocean incubators and accelerators.”

For interested parties to take part in the Ocean Innovation Challenge:

The innovations to be submitted can include technological as well as cutting edge policy, regulatory, financial, economic or other actions that address either sea-based or land-based sectors.

Initial concepts can be submitted by public or private entities, including governments, private companies (including start-ups), NGO/CSO, United Nations entities, academic institutions, and intergovernmental organizations.

The Challenge must be implemented in and benefit stakeholders in developing countries, but may be submitted by developing or developed country proponents.

For more information and to submit a preliminary concept, see the Ocean Innovation Challenge website at www.oceaninnovationchallenge.org .

The Nippon Foundation Sustainable Ocean Programme Thematic Fellowship

Call for applications

The Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (DOALOS) of the Office of Legal Affairs is now accepting applications for the 2020 session of the United Nations – The Nippon Foundation Thematic Fellowship.

The 2020 session of the Thematic Fellowship will focus on the “Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and ocean governance frameworks”.

The Thematic Fellowship aims at increasing capacity at the national level through funded advanced training and research in the above thematic area. Following the Fellowship, it is expected that awardees would have obtained the necessary skills to assist their countries to formulate policies towards implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in conformity with UNCLOS and related instruments.

In 2020, twelve fellowships will be awarded: ten to candidates from developing States, and two to candidates from developed States. The Programme will consist of a four-month training phase with DOALOS at United Nations Headquarters in New York, from mid-August to mid-December 2020.

Required qualifications: Please note that candidates must be between the ages of 25 and 40, possess at least a first university degree or equivalent, and demonstrate a solid background in ocean affairs, including Law of the Sea, and a need for further in-depth training in this year’s thematic area. They must be Government officials or other mid-level professionals dealing directly with issues such as, but not limited to, sustainable development of oceans and seas, including the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Women are strongly invited to apply, with a view to achieving gender balance in the selection process.

A detailed outline of the required qualifications, along with the application forms and additional Programme information is available on the Fellowship Programme webpage.

Please note that candidates are expected to use the application package, which can be downloaded from this homepage.

Completed applications must be transmitted to DOALOS at doalos@un.org, copied to vracar@un.org, germani@un.org and jessica.howley@un.org no later than 20 March 2020. Kindly note that it will not be possible to consider incomplete or late applications.

Awards will be made by mid-May 2020 and successful candidates will begin the Programme in mid-August 2020.