75 brands to stop providing plastic bags from January 1

[snoop1130]

75 brands to stop providing plastic bags from January 1

By The Nation

 

 

Around 75 brands and 24,500 distribution channels under the Thai Retailers Association will stop providing plastic bags from January 1 in a bid to reduce the whopping 9 billion, or 20 per cent, of plastic bags used in Thailand.

 

According to the Pollution Control Department, 45 billion plastic bags are used each year in the country – 18 billion, or 40 per cent, by local markets and street vendors, 13.5 billion, or 30 per cent, by retail shops, and another 30 per cent by department stores and supermarkets. Each Bangkokian uses eight plastic bags daily on average, which totals 80 million plastic bags per day. 

 

Association president Worawut Oonjai said that 75 brands under its umbrella joined forces to reduce plastic waste and signed an agreement to stop providing plastic bags on the fourth day of each month last year. 

 

Retail shops and department stores have from December 4, 2018, until August 31, 2019, been promoting non-plastic use with reward points. The effort resulted in a reduction of 2 billion plastic bags – a 4.6 per cent decrease.

 

After discussions with department stores, convenience stores and retail shops in November, the association decided to introduce a campaign titled “Every Day Say No to Plastic Bags”, under which all its members will stop providing such bags. 

 

Worwut believes this campaign will produce more effective results than the government’s road map to eliminate plastic bags from Thailand by 2028.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30378996

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-12-02

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[Toadie]

Good on them for getting stuck into reducing plastic. Shame people whinge about steps forward.

 

Corruption? Waiting on global leaders to set an example. Or for humanity to outgrow greed. Take your pick.

[worgeordie]

Reducing plastic bags = more profit for the retailers,a windfall,

yes I know we should be getting rid of plastic bags,they are evil,

but why not give us an alternative with paper bags.

regards worgeordie

 

[NCC1701A]

24 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

Reducing plastic bags = more profit for the retailers,a windfall,

yes I know we should be getting rid of plastic bags,they are evil,

but why not give us an alternative with paper bags.

regards worgeordie

 

villa market has old style brown paper bags just like the 1970's for the last few months.

they have a big sign that says "Due to global warming we no longer have plastic bags." not joking.

 

[Yinn]

39 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

Reducing plastic bags = more profit for the retailers,a windfall,

yes I know we should be getting rid of plastic bags,they are evil,

but why not give us an alternative with paper bags.

regards worgeordie

 

They give paper bag already.

4 every month now for learning. At Tesco. And other place will be same.

I feed to my worm.

Full time soon. 

Will be good.

 

 

[BestB]

So if not bags available, how will i take my shopping? Will they be selling carry bags for a reasonable price of like 20-30 baht or do the Makro thing, 99 baht for a bag, which will not fit much in

 

Why not follow Malaysia and Indonesia, if you want plastic, you pay extra for it. Soon people will either bring their own bags or not use as much and try to pack as much in as possible into one

Edited December 2, 2019 by BestB

[Yinn]

1 minute ago, BestB said:

So if not bags available, how will i take my shopping? Will they be selling carry bags for a reasonable price of like 20-30 baht or do the Makro thing, 99 baht for a bag, which will not fit much in

The paper bag.

Dad tell me before plastic bag popular, the shop all use paper bag. 

 

Human can survive with no plastic bag. Not panic. We be ok.

i use already. No problem. 

We can do it!

 

 

 

[Yinn]

Many company reduce plastic now.

Tip water reduce the plastic for the water 35% already.

Lid and the bottle. Other brand now copy.

 

 

[david555]

Brick pack for fluids  e.g. milk yoghurt fruit juice etc.... all possible replacements for plastic ...

[BestB]

18 minutes ago, Yinn said:

The paper bag.

Dad tell me before plastic bag popular, the shop all use paper bag. 

 

Human can survive with no plastic bag. Not panic. We be ok.

i use already. No problem. 

We can do it!

 

 

 

Wait when your paper bag breaks and all your shopping is all over the road, then come back and tell me how well you survive

[Odysseus123]

43 minutes ago, dcnx said:

Let’s wait and see if this plastic ban even sticks. Good chance this time next year most of them will be using plastic bags again. I hope I’m wrong, but things rarely change here.

Possibly-but I think that they will stick to it.

[MaxYakov]

3 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

4 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Reducing plastic bags = more profit for the retailers,a windfall,

yes I know we should be getting rid of plastic bags,they are evil,

but why not give us an alternative with paper bags.

regards worgeordie

 

villa market has old style brown paper bags just like the 1970's for the last few months.

they have a big sign that says "Due to global warming we no longer have plastic bags." not joking.

And FoodLand is prominently displaying 25 baht shopping bags near the checkout lines. They have also installed anti-shoplifting alarm components near the checkout lines.

 

Have consumers degenerated to the point where they are helpless without being given poly bags by the stores?

[Destiny1990]

Bring ur own bag or buy one for 0,25 Bht. Just like in the rest of the world.

[bristolgeoff]

I go shopping with my own bag,cheap Charlie to pay for one.so once the message gets thru most people will carry they own.will cut down on plastic waste at lest

[Deli]

6 hours ago, Yinn said:

They give paper bag already.

4 every month now for learning. At Tesco. And other place will be same.

I feed to my worm.

Full time soon. 

Will be good.

 

 

Does the cashier come with the bag ?

[swifty5x5]

7 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Reducing plastic bags = more profit for the retailers,a windfall,

yes I know we should be getting rid of plastic bags,they are evil,

but why not give us an alternative with paper bags.

regards worgeordie

 

yes cut down trees, or maybe use hemp

 

[Dukeleto]

I love this disguise big business uses of caring for the environment bandwagon. Let’s call it what it is shall we? Simply an opportunity to save them millions in not supplying “FREE” plastic bags to shoppers while making money on selling the same thing they originally provided free of charge undoubtedly adding that into the cost of the product you are buying which means you still payed for it. If they were serious about the environment, as many say, then ensure that you do not supply plastic bags AT ALL to your shoppers even if they are prepared to pay for one. Then let’s see who, if any, actually give a rats bottom end for the environment. The same applies to western countries who pontificate the same reasons but are guilty of supplying plastic for a fee. Simply ban them completely from being issued by shops which means a shopper will not leave home without their own bags. Problem solved without any of the bull manure!

[whaleboneman]

Paper bags take four times the energy to produce and are not a good solution. They are biodegradable but really, people need to switch to permanent cotton or hemp bags. (And apparently these bags need to be used at least 25 times to balance the energy.)

[dhind1]

Paper bags were the rage in the west in the 70s and early 80s. But were ultimately phased out due to the high use of paper and the worry that too many trees were being used just to take our products home with us.

 

We do have better solutions for paper now than just trees, but again the west is leading the way. 

You must bring your own bags when you go shopping for groceries.

People get used to it and only forget once.

There are always reusable bags available for purchase - something that they have done here in Tops and Villa for a while and now I see in Lotus and Big C as well.

[AhFarangJa]

Why oh why do they not switch to Cassava products and similar. 30 posts into a thread and not one mention of them. 

[Wiggy]

7 hours ago, david555 said:

Brick pack for fluids  e.g. milk yoghurt fruit juice etc.... all possible replacements for plastic ...

I think these are wax lined (or something like that) so that they don't go soggy and are therefore not recyclable. The same as take away 'paper' cups from coffee outlets. These are all single use.

[Henryford]

So if i am out and decide to do some shopping how do i carry it home?

[EVENKEEL]

3 hours ago, Destiny1990 said:

Bring ur own bag or buy one for 0,25 Bht. Just like in the rest of the world.

Shouldn't make assumptions what the world does or doesn't do. 

 

Next they'll be taking away my yogurt spoons. Man I love those plastic spoons.

 

Oh and those insulated bags they put my ice creams in are also mandatory.

Edited December 3, 2019 by EVENKEEL

[BestB]

28 minutes ago, Dukeleto said:

Take your own or simply double bag or are you simply that useless an individual.

i am the useless one, unlike you i do not spend my days planning and preparing to go shopping as if it was the only purpose in life, but then again, it may well be for you

[spidermike007]

Good. good, good. For a nation not known to be progressive, this is a move in the right direction. Plastic deserves a bad name!

 

A change in consciousness must start at the most basic level. Most Thais think plastic is the best thing ever invented, and the percentage of Thais that even consider the negative ramifications of plastic is incredibly small. This requires some education. I always do two things to avoid the consumption of plastic.

 

1. I bring re-usable bags with me every time I go shopping. I use the larger shopping bags I buy in the US, which are made of recycled materials. Most of the clerks have to be dealt with. Even when they see my bag, they still start putting the stuff in plastic. I always mai sai toom. No plastic! Then they start loading up my bag. Most look at me like I am from Mars. Do I care? Not one iota. About 1% thank me, and get it. Not many do. My Thai wife does not like bringing the bags to the store. I compel her to. By now, she expects it, and sometimes even asks if I have any bags in the car, or on the motorbike. Same with the water bottles. It used to embarrass her. Now, it is second nature, as I have been doing this for so long, she expects it. So, if a Thai can be conditioned to follow these simple principals, then anyone can. 

 

2. I bring a bottle of water with me, every time I go to a restaurant. I refill my BPA free plastic bottles from the 20 liter bottles at home. Or I use the double walled steel bottles, which keeps the water cool. It is easy. I never buy bottled water at a restaurant. This saves 300-600 bottles a year. I never get any flack from the restaurants. Only once did someone say something to me. She said you cannot bring you own water. My response was if you serve the water in a glass bottle, and I do not have to consume a plastic bottle, I am happy to pay for that. She was lost. I told her to leave and get me my food. She went away. 

We simply cannot say we are concerned about the environment, and then do nothing about it. Action demonstrates commitment. Lack of action demonstrates nothing. 

 

Lastly, restaurants can demonstrate their commitment, by serving drinking water from the 20 liter bottles. It saves alot of plastic. They lose a small amount of revenue, by not selling thousands of bottles of water. But, their operation is still profitable, and they are making a real difference. There really is not need to be consuming water in plastic bottles. At least not often. There are alternatives. Those damn bottles are a real culprit, when it comes to fouling the environment. What can we do, if we say we care?

[DUNROAMIN]

8 hours ago, White Christmas13 said:

And how do Thai people take home their food including soup in a paper bag?

The same way they did before plastic bags were introduced, take your own container!

[Tayaout]

5 minutes ago, Henryford said:

So if i am out and decide to do some shopping how do i carry it home?

If you stop going out then you don't need to worry about this. 

[recom273]

It’s already been introduced in Hat Yai.

 

No thought or planning - just dropped last week. No plastic bags from Big C.

 

No problem to us, we have a motorbike sidecar which we use for our monthly shopping and the like, I have some big ikea bags, but what about those who dangle plastic bags from their wing mirrors? Wife says there are people just walking away from the tills with arms full of shopping because they have no way of carrying.

 

Its the same old story, poor implementation and no thought given.

 

Im sure it’s doomed to failure, people will buy less because they can’t carry, sales will plummet.

 

I would also question, the environmental cost of brown paper bags? Where does the wood pulp comes from?
 

 

Edited December 3, 2019 by recom273

[Tayaout]

1 minute ago, recom273 said:

It’s already been introduced in Hat Yai.

 

No thought or planning - just dropped last week. No plastic bags from Big C.

 

No problem to us, we have a motorbike sidecar which we use for our monthly shopping and the like, I have some big ikea bags, but what about those who dangle plastic bags from their wing mirrors? Wife says there are people just walking away from the tills with arms full of shopping because they have no way of carrying.

 

Im sure it’s doomed to failure, people will buy less because they can’t carry, sales will plummet.

 

I would also question, the environmental cost of brown paper bags? Where does the wood pulp comes from?
 

 

People will adapt quickly. After they forget a couple time they will start bringing bags. 

[BestB]

1 minute ago, recom273 said:

It’s already been introduced in Hat Yai.

 

No thought or planning - just dropped last week. No plastic bags from Big C.

 

No problem to us, we have a motorbike sidecar which we use for our monthly shopping and the like, I have some big ikea bags, but what about those who dangle plastic bags from their wing mirrors? Wife says there are people just walking away from the tills with arms full of shopping because they have no way of carrying.

 

Im sure it’s doomed to failure, people will buy less because they can’t carry, sales will plummet.

 

I would also question, the environmental cost of brown paper bags? Where does the wood pulp comes from?
 

 

Big C has the worst bags, its so thin that you have to double up even for a large bottle of coke, otherwise it rips.and Big C does not sell any strong plastic bags, unlike Makro, from memory 11 baht and its fairly large size