BANGKOK: Thailand has discovered 130 tonnes of illegal waste that was shipped over from Australia and dumped in the country.
The Thai Department of Pollution Control said the illegal waste will be sent back to Australia as Thailand had no policy to accept such waste.
Department chief Attaporn Charoenchansa said the Customs contacted him over five containers full of suspicious cargo and wanted them to be examined.
Upon checking them, it was found that they contained household waste such as food packaging, face masks, sprays and sachets of medicine, which were all mixed with waste paper to hide them.
He said about a third of the waste comprised household waste, which was illegal to be imported into the country.
According to a Bangkok Post report, the shipment belongs to a paper producing company, which had shipped it from Australia to be used as raw material for producing paper rolls in its plant in Prachin Buri.
However, Thai regulations specify that contaminated items should not comprise more than one per cent of the total weight of the waste.
Since the discovery, the company has acknowledged its mistake and agreed to comply with legal procedures over the matter.
"We will ask the company to send the shipment back to Australia and the Department of Customs will take legal action against the company," Attaporn said.
"The department will also work with the Department of Foreign Trade to issue a warning letter to the company, making it clear the country has no policy to accept any household waste."
He further added that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will soon implement a new regulation that bans all plastic waste shipments into the country. Exemption is given only if they are used in local industries.
The move is also expected to limit the number of plastic recycling plants in the country as these currently constitute a legal loophole that allows for plastic waste to be imported.
To further control pollution in the country, the department will soon be submitting a five-year waste management plan for the national environment board's consideration.
This includes a plan to halve the number of landfills by 2027 and completely eradicate them by 2037.
There is a plan to increase the capacity of biomass power plants, in the hope that this will upscale the use of waste as a source of fuel from six to 50 per cent.
By 2037, Thailand is projected to have almost 30 million tonnes of household waste, of which more than 53 per cent will be segregated at home for reuse while the rest will be used to produce power.