From the campaign “No Plastic Bags” which has measures for department stores, supermarkets and convenience stores to stop giving out single-use plastic bags since January 2020, with the goal of reducing and stopping the use of plastic, including reusing plastic waste, it is considered the first step in the journey according to the roadmap for plastic waste management in Thailand, which has been very well-received by service users.

 

When the outbreak of the coronavirus disease or COVID-19 occurred, the amount of plastic waste increased by more than 60 percent (statistical data from the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak in Thailand), most of which was plastic waste from ordering food via food delivery. Due to the changing lifestyle, people avoid going out and working from home has changed consumption behavior, requiring more reliance on food delivery businesses, which undeniably requires the use of plastic packaging. In addition, stores have stopped accepting reusable containers brought by customers for safety from infection by touching.

 

For example: If we order delivery food once, there will be at least 6-7 pieces of waste, such as food boxes, lids, spoons, forks, condiment bags, and shopping bags. Or even ordering 1 cup of coffee, there will be at least 4 pieces of plastic waste from coffee cups, lids, straws, and shopping bags.

The way that consumers can help reduce plastic use is to reduce the use of single-use plastics, such as plastic bags, spoons, forks, straws, etc. Or if necessary, they should use them to the greatest benefit and/or reuse them. But this is only a way to help reduce the problem of plastic waste on the consumer side, which may be a solution at the end.

 

Therefore, solving the problem of plastic waste must look to the root cause of the problem, which is the producer side. On the producer side, they are not indifferent to the problem of waste, which has now become a global environmental issue. If we study the trends of packaging in the future, one trend that is being talked about a lot is Eco-Packaging or environmentally friendly packaging.

 

What is Eco-Packaging?
Eco-packaging is environmentally friendly packaging that is produced with consideration for the impact on the environment, is environmentally friendly, and safe. It is the selection of raw materials in the production process from nature that can be decomposed or materials that can be reused.

 

Advantages of Eco-Packaging In addition to being a packaging used to pack products and protect the quality of the products inside, it can also pack both hot and cold items, can pack liquids without leakage, and can be put in a microwave.

 

In particular, the trend of food packaging is to use the concept of imitating nature as much as possible by applying the principles of nature to packaging and trying to reduce the use of chemicals in the production of packaging as much as possible in order to provide the greatest benefit to consumers and the environment, and to make consumers more confident in their safety.

 

Environmentally friendly materials used to produce eco-packaging can be divided into 3 types:
1. Bio-Based is a natural raw material used to produce bioplastics, such as corn, sugarcane, cassava, etc.
2. Fiber-Based is a raw material made from natural fibers or fibers, which are materials that use the most fibers, including waste fibers from agricultural waste, such as bagasse, wheat straw, linen, bamboo.
3. Biomass is a raw material obtained from agricultural waste, such as rice husks, bagasse peels, palm kernel shells, corn cobs.
Examples of eco-packaging that are currently in use Mostly used in food packaging, such as food containers made from cassava, wheat bran, areca sheaths, bamboo or coconut shell spoons and forks, bioplastic water bottles or food containers made from naturally biodegradable plastics, coffee cups made from coffee grounds, and sauce capsules made from seaweed, etc.

 

There are also other types of businesses that see the importance of the environment and have adjusted their packaging to use eco-packaging, such as cosmetic squeeze tubes made from paper, packing plant seeds in biodegradable packaging materials to be planted into trees, etc.

 

It can be seen that manufacturers or entrepreneurs of products and services are trying to find ways to solve the problem of garbage that increases every day in various ways. Adjusting to use environmentally friendly packaging, or eco-packaging, is another method that not only helps protect the quality of the product, but also helps protect the world.