Thailand On Plastic Consumption and Pollution

BANGKOK, THAILAND - SEPTEMBER 1 : Worker Kamol Srilaloong manually separates plastic bottles at the Wongpanit Suvarnabhumi recycle collection center on September 1, 2017 in Bangkok, Thailand. People arrive at the recycling and sorting center with their products, plastic, metal, steel and paper. They are paid by weight according to the market cost. Plastic bottles can be recycled into Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottle flakes and post consumer recycle (PCR) for the textile market IPI -NPT chips. Many plastic items like shopping bags, and food wrapping tend to be used for short periods before being discarded. A recent study stated that Thailand along with China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam are on the list of the world's top-five plastic polluters. Cleaning up plastic pollution in Thailand is a challenge due to cultural, infrastructure and environmental obstacles. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)