Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has announced plans to ban imports of scrap plastics by 1 January 2026.
It will also reduce import quotas in the years up to then.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Warawut Silpa-archa revealed that a total of 250,000 tonnes of plastic scrap imports will be permitted in 2021, which is about 50% of Thailand’s factory production.
So far, between January and June 2021, just 71,182 tonnes was imported anyway.
Each year, Thailand will reduce by 50,000 tonnes the amount of material permitted for import, until the total ban begins at the start of 2026.
At that point, 100% of the feedstock will need to come from Thai domestic sources.
Thailand’s Pollution Control Department will now prepare the detail on these measures to reduce and ban imports of scrap plastics, and they should be implemented before the end of the year.
