Thailand’s Pollution Control Department and its Customs Department have revealed that they have returned paper bales back to the port of origin as they contained plastic contamination.
The paper was labelled as mixed paper and had the HS code 47079000 and was a load of 284 tonnes. However, upon inspection, the officials said it was more like municipal waste, which is an offence to import into Thailand.
In particular, Thai officials are looking for illegal plastic imports and this load was found to contain some plastics. Thailand’s Plastic and Electronic Waste Management Subcommittee last week ordered the Pollution Control Department to begin an operation to counter illegal plastic imports with tougher inspections.
The material was being imported by Siam Craft Industry Co and is now in the process of being returned to its original destination.
