Legal obstacles for the circular economy in Thailand: Illegal dumping of recyclable hazardous industrial waste

Abstract

The circular economy has become one of the potential solutions for simultaneously addressing the huge amount of waste generated and the accelerated depletion of virgin resources, both of which are key obstacles for sustainable development. As this concept is pursued with the goal of maintaining the value of products and resources in the economy for as long as possible, recycling is undeniably a key component. However, in Thailand, many hazardous industrial waste recycling projects are unfortunately viewed as sources of environmental contamination, thereby leading to unacceptable human and ecological health risks, mostly owing to infamous illegal dumping cases associated with recycling facilities. Consequently, recycling facilities have been increasingly opposed by local communities. This study, therefore, aims to analyze legal frameworks on waste regulations in Thailand and identify legal loopholes in the regulations, creating opportunities for recycling facilities to avoid proper waste recycling by dumping the waste illegally instead. Forty-two illegal dumping cases in the central, western, and eastern parts of Thailand, mostly linked with waste-processing facilities, were analyzed. Moreover, the most infamous case of illegal dumping in western Thailand was thoroughly assessed to determine the root causes of legal insufficiency in practice. We found that five major causes of the illegal dumping of recyclable hazardous industrial waste in Thailand are 1) a lack of market and financial feasibility evaluations during the permission process, 2) a lack of mass-balance monitoring, 3) poor groundwater and soil contamination regulation, 4) a lack of transparency in the monitoring process, and 5) inadequate punishment and lack of private sector engagement. Consequently, based on several circular economy evaluation frameworks, we have proposed recommendations to close these critical legal loopholes.