The Bangkok administration is partnering a Norwegian company to find sustainable solutions for plastic waste management in the capital.

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt welcomed Norwegian ambassador to Thailand Astrid Emilie Helle and representatives of TOMRA Systems ASA, who visited City Hall on Thursday to discuss measures regarding plastic waste and presented the company’s latest technology in waste management.

The collaboration between the city and TOMRA aims to address the problem of increasing plastic waste in Bangkok since the end of Covid-19 lockdowns.

As a world leader in reuse and recycling, TOMRA agreed to provide the Thai capital with the technology to manufacture waste sorting cabinets capable of separating plastic and glass bottles as well as aluminium cans, while automatically removing containers’ labels and pulling the rings off cans.

The governor said that Bangkok is also working with private companies in Thailand under several programmes to promote waste separation. Companies, such as Sansiri, Tesco Lotus, and Singha Corporation, have been building cabinets throughout the city to accept plastic bottles while giving out gift vouchers and eggs in return to attract public participation.

Chadchart told the Norwegian visitors that Bangkok faces a challenge of increasing plastic waste as the most populous city in Thailand with over 10 million residents. Since 2016, the amount of garbage collected in Bangkok has shown a decreasing trend, but the ratio of plastic waste has kept rising since the Covid-19 lockdown was lifted, he added.

“Bangkok is implementing several measures to control plastic waste in the city, with focus on reducing usage, separating waste, and recycling, as well as building a network of partners with government agencies, private companies and civil society,” he said.