Waste not, want not

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s (BMA) plan to encourage households to sort their waste got off to a shaky start, attracting fewer participants than targeted while generating a barrage of questions.

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Registration for City Hall's “BKK Waste Pay” programme, urging residents to separate their garbage in exchange for a monthly collection fee discount — 20 baht instead of 60 baht — started on Aug 1.

Those who do not participate will have to pay the full fee from Oct 1, and will only be eligible to reapply for the lower rate after six months.

There is no doubt that the scheme is a much-needed step for the city that produces about 10 million tonnes of waste per year, which costs approximately 7 billion baht to collect. This budget is larger than the 6 billion baht the city allocates for public health, or 4 billion baht for education.

Reducing these waste management costs would free up funds for other essential services and benefit the environment.