1 January 2020, Bangkok, Thailand: The new year marked the start of the ban on plastic bags in Thailand, implemented by around 75 brands under the Thai Retailers Association to reduce plastic waste in the country.

The aim is to reduce 13.5 billion plastic bags handed out to shoppers, or 30 per cent of plastic bags used in Thailand annually.

Under the association’s campaign entitled ‘Every day say no to plastic bags’, 24,500 distribution channels of all the Association’s 75 members will stop giving plastic bags for purchases, hoping to drive the country closer to a plastic waste free society.

The Department of Pollution Control recently revealed that 40 per cent or 18 billion plastic bags come from Thailand’s fresh markets annually, while the balance of 30 per cent, or 13.5 billion bags, come from local grocery stores.

A government campaign to eliminate single-use plastic bags entirely by 2022 has seen television channels pixelating plastic bags onscreen.

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