Waste Management Problems Could Be Solved Through Plastic Credits

The enterprise in Thailand is now one of the dozens of global waste collection and recycling initiatives selling plastic credits.

FREMONT, CA: Despite Ranong being Thailand's least populous province, it faces a continual influx of plastic waste. Like many other Thai coastal areas, Ranong's blue waters are home to 50,000 tonnes of plastic garbage that join Thailand's seas annually. This amount does not incorporate the hundreds of thousands of plastic imported yearly from other countries.

Although Ranong is Thailand's least populous province, it faces a continual influx of plastic waste. Like many other Thai coastal areas, Ranong's blue waters are home to some of the 50,000 tonnes of plastic waste that enter Thailand's seas every year. This amount does not incorporate the hundreds of thousands of plastic imported yearly from other countries.

However, a group of Ranong citizens has been intercepting plastic pollution on its way from the land to the sea since 2019. They assemble 120 tonnes of plastic per year with the support of a social venture called Second Life Thailand, primarily recycled into plastic chips to produce new products. Second Life then produces a plastic credit for each tonne of rubbish removed from the environment, which it sells to another company looking to offset their waste impact.

The enterprise in Thailand is now one of the dozens of global waste collection and recycling initiatives selling plastic credits. These credits, which trail the concepts of carbon emissions trading, enable businesses to indirectly handle their plastic pollution by paying projects to eliminate it from the environment, recycle it, or do both.