Shops to charge for plastic bags

Posted by admin on December 5th, 2009 filed in Activities, Beach life, Day tripping, Family fun, Living here, Shopping, The locals, Tourist tips

Tesco-Lotus and 7-Eleven are the only exceptions to an extraordinary agreement by all Phuket’s major retailers to charge for plastic bags.

Phuket Provincial Hall was the site of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) ceremony which was administrated by Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop.

The scheme to cut down on the island’s plastic waste is the first of its kind in the Kingdom, and will be introduced on February 14.

Jungceylon, Central, Robinson, Carrfour, Supercheap, Phuket Grocery, Big C, Family Mart, Index Living Mall, 108 Shop, SB Furniture and Homepro were amongst the signatories.

Officials said 7-Eleven and Tesco-Lotus were still both waiting to hear from their Bangkok store headquarters for final approval regarding the scheme.

Makro was the other big name not to sign but the store has never distributed free plastic bags. Phuket produces around 500 tonnes of garbage every day, double what the Saphan Hin incinerator can burn. What is left over is left to pile up within low-lying landfills by the site.

In 2007, toxic waste overflowed from the landfill into nearby waterways, destroying millions of fish that were farmed in the area.