“No Plastic Bag Day” campaign begins on August 15

BANGKOK, August 12 (TNA) - A campaign to avoid the use plastic bags one day a month starts on August 15, according to Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dawpong Ratanasuwan launched the “No Plastic Bag Day” campaign on Tuesday to encourage the use of reusable shopping bags in leading department stores and hypermarkets across the country by not handing out plastic bags to customers and introducing awareness-raising and promotional activities. The campaign, starts on August 15 and will continue on the same date every month, is carried out as part of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and 16 department stores and retailers on the occasion of the World Environment day back in June 2015. Participating companies included CP All, The Mall Group, Foodland Supermarket, Siam Makro, Central Retail Corporation, Ek-Chai Distribution System, CRC Thai Wat sadu, CRC Sports, Central Food Retail, Central Marketing Group, Big C Supercenter, B2S, Powerbuy, Rangsit Plaza and Robinson Department Store. Joining the campaign, Tesco Lotus, the hypermarket with 1,800 branches nationwide, expects the “No Plastic Bag Day” would help reduce at least 40 million plastic bags this year. According to Pollution Control Department, at least 2.7 million tonnes of plastic and polystyrene wastes are generated each year or about 7000 tonnes per day in Thailand. (END)