Ministry issues June 30 deadline for factories to submit waste data

The ministry has notified all factories to expedite the reporting of industrial waste data in accordance with the new law by June 30 of this year, the ministry's chief inspector, Wisanu Tabtieng, said.

It was found that 27,000 factories, which are waste generators, have not yet reported the data. Non-compliance is considered a violation and can result in a maximum fine of 20,000 baht.

Wisanu said that recently the Department of Industrial Factories had amended the law, namely "Ministerial Announcement on the Management of Discarded, or Unused Substances (2022)”. It adopts the Polluter Pays Principle (PPP) and assigns responsibility for waste management from the source factories until the disposal of the waste is completed. This regulation will be enforced as of November 1 this year.

All waste-generating factories are required to report data through the Industry Ministry's reporting system, known as iSingle Form (https:// isingleform. go. th/home), which is a large-scale database used by the ministry to formulate policies, oversee factory operations, and prevent and combat illegal dumping of industrial waste that affects the public and the environment, Wisanu said.

Furthermore, factories must report within the specified time frame as required by law, which is June 30 of this year.

"The management of industrial waste must be strictly governed by the law and handled properly based on scientific principles to prevent waste from escaping the system, which could have adverse effects on communities and the environment. Therefore, we would like to remind all factory operators who have not yet reported industrial waste data to expedite the process within the timeframe specified by law," Wisanu said.

Currently, Thailand has a total of 60,638 waste-generating factories nationwide, with more than 27,000 factories yet to report their data. The Industry Ministry's provincial offices nationwide have been instructed to coordinate, monitor, and emphasise to factory operators the importance of reporting waste management data, Wisanu added.