Packaging producers push for enactment of EPR law
Thailand’s packaging manufacturers have teamed up under the banner “PRO-Thailand Network” to support the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) law, which promotes the sustainable management of plastic waste.
The concept of EPR has been around for more than 40 years and is being implemented in 65 countries, Prof. Panet Manomaiwibul, head of research with Circular Economy for Waste-free Thailand (CEWT), Mae Fah Luang University recently told the Nation.
“The goal of EPR is to promote circulation of used packaging by having the producers take part in its collection, storage, and recycling to increase the economic value of these waste materials,” he said.
The EPR could be first implemented as joint strategies among partner producers, then upgraded to an industry-wide policy, and eventually become law to enforce the participation of all related parties, he added.
“Thailand is now in the process of drafting the EPR law and will soon conduct a public hearing,” said Panet. “Soon we will follow in the footsteps of other Southeast Asia nations who have already implemented EPR, namely Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore.”
The drafting of EPR law has been advocated by the Packaging Recovery Organization Thailand Network, or PRO-Thailand Network.
Established in 2020 among 7 packaging producers, the network aims to serve as an administrator of information system and ecosystem for sustainable circular economy, according to Wipawan Thassanapreechachai, Senior Manager of Corporate Relations at Suntory Pepsico Beverage Thailand, a member of the PRO-Thailand Network.
She said three kinds of packaging are the network’s main focus in recycling promotion, namely PET bottles, UBC beverage boxes, and MLP soft bags.
Wipawan said the network missions comprises of three aspects: Bringing used packaging into the recycling process; supporting recycling facilities and networking with garbage collectors and junk shops, and communicating with consumers to boost their cooperation in proper waste sorting and disposal.
The PRO-Thailand Network has set a goal of having the EPR law enacted in Thailand in the next three years, as well as having more members in the packaging industry, she added.
Patinya Sinsuphadon, Sustainable Director at Tetra Pak (Thailand) Ltd, another PRO-Thailand Network member, added that currently obstacles in recycling used packaging are lack of recycling facilities for soft plastic bags, while the beverage boxes still have no proper systems for collection and value adding.
“These are obstacles that producers and partners must work together to address,” he said. “Although network members share the same goal of promoting sustainable circular economy, different producers are facing different difficulties due to availability of infrastructure and technology for recycling different materials.”
