Major Thai stores to stop giving out plastic bags by 2020

Retailers and convenience stores in Thailand have pledged to stop giving plastic bags to customers from next year in a bid to reduce plastic waste, the country’s environment minister said. Major operators will stop providing single-use plastic bags, starting January 2020, after signing up to a government programme, Varawut Silpa-archa, the natural resources and environment minister, wrote on his Facebook page late on Monday.

Varawut said “43 department stores and convenience stores around the country have joined the programme to stop handing out plastic bags”, urging the public to use alternatives, such as cloth bags, for shopping. Companies in the programme include CPALL Pcl, which operates more than 10,000 7-Eleven convenience stores in Thailand, and the country’s largest retailer, Central Group. “Convenience will slightly be reduced in order to extend the life of the environment,” he said.

The Thai government earlier said it would ban three types of plastic - microbeads, cap seals and oxo-degradable plastics - by the end of the year. Enviornmental Group Greenpeace says about 75 billion pieces of plastic bags end up in the waste each year in Thailand.