Thailand is an industry and tourism hub in Southeast Asia. Tourism development combined with population increase and economic growth, however, has led to more and more waste: In 2019, 28.7 million tons of municipal solid waste were generated. Uncollected plastic waste as well as plastic waste recycling processes without sufficient wastewater treatment represent a risk for a large amount of plastic leakage into water systems and the sea. Today, Thailand is among the world’s top 10 countries for plastic leakage into the ocean.
Marine Litter Prevention through reduction, sustainable design, and recycling of plastic packaging (MA-RE-DESIGN) Project aims at avoiding plastic waste and increasing its separate collection, sorting, and recycling or environmentally sound treatment to prevent plastic waste leakage into the marine environment in Thailand. The project initiates and accompanies change processes by partner stakeholders towards a circular economy. Overall, this setup creates a long-lasting impact, benefitting policy decision-makers, key stakeholders, as well as the population in Thailand and beyond.
