Govt mulls disposal of 30m tonnes of garbage
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Thailand would need up to Bt1 billion to properly dispose of its 30 million tonnes of garbage, Interior Minister General Anupong Paojinda said yesterday. He added that the government was looking into the Private Investment in State Undertakings Act to see
Anupong explained that the authorities did not have proper and sustainable guidelines on garbage management in the past, which is why 30 million tonnes of waste has been accumulated.
Since the prime minister added this issue to the national agenda, the Natural Resource and Environment Ministry was assigned to come up with a roadmap for garbage management, Anupong said.
In terms of household waste, he said the public must first be made aware that each location is responsible for its own garbage eradication.
“There are bound objections as soon as a waste-to-energy power plant is proposed. Hence, people should be made to understand that if they don’t want such a power plant, then their area must have a proper dumping spot,” he said.
He went on to say that there were two options – high-potential areas with enough garbage could build waste-to-energy power plants or areas with a low amount waste could bury it.
Of the 141 garbage-disposal areas nationwide, there are 44 locations that have sufficient garbage to feed waste-to-energy power plants, he said.
If the garbage created in these areas is not enough, then they can also take waste created in its 4-kilometre radius.
He explained that power plants would need up to 500 tonnes of waste every day, adding that anything less than that would not be worth investing in.
Anupong said the government would look into the Private Investment in State Undertakings Act 2013 before deciding whether it should invest or have the private sector invest in waste-to-energy power plants.
