Environment and natural resources
Pollution and waste
Dead sea turtle in Thailand shines spotlight on environmental impact of Loy Krathong festival
Last month, a dead sea turtle was washed ashore in Chonburi. It was identified as a female endangered green sea turtle aged about 20. An examination by the Sea Turtle Conservation Centre in the Thai coastal province later showed its intestines were full of nylon string ...
Pichayada Promchertchoo
As waste-to-energy incinerators spread in Southeast Asia, so do concerns
In 2016, Bangkok opened its first waste-to-energy incinerator in the district of Nong Khaem, turning up to 500 metric tons of solid waste into electricity every day. The 9.8 megawatt incinerator uses technology from Japan’s Hitachi Zosen, and the project aims to be a model ...
Nicha Wachpanich
Ho Chi Minh City’s plastic ‘habit’ leaves piles of waste
Kieu Anh Tran heads down a small alley to her workshop in Ho Chi Minh City’s Binh Thanh District. Inside, her team is busy washing used plastic tarpaulins, cutting patterns, and sewing the discarded material into backpacks, tote bags, and wallets. In Vietnam’s southern city and ...
Govi Snell
Global Survey Sees Seven Out of Ten People Wanting to End Plastic Pollution
Ahead of next week’s inaugural negotiations on what will be included in the UN’s plastics treaty, WWF and Plastic Free Foundation release an Ipsos survey showing that an average of seven out of 10 people polled across 34 countries believe that the treaty should create ...
Phontham Visapra
Waste startups and entrepreneurship tackle Cambodia’s growing trash problem
n a remote road in Battambang, Cambodia, 38-year-old Lam Samphors was driving to a community training when he came across a strikingly large pile of trash in the middle of the road. As he hit the brakes and gazed upon the mountain of garbage, Samphors ...
CHEA SAMEANG
After Lao rivers run red, authorities order iron mine to stop production
Authorities in Laos have ordered a Vietnamese mining company to suspend its operations after it polluted local waterways, causing two rivers to run red, local media reported. The Company of Economic Cooperation in Vietnam (Coecco) runs a mining operation in the Boualapha district of Laos’ southern ...
RFA Lao
Plastic river: Following the waste that’s choking the Chao Phraya
The Chao Phraya River is born from mountain streams in northern Thailand, flowing hundreds of kilometres south to the sea. By the time the river travels through Bangkok and empties into the Gulf of Thailand, it is carrying huge quantities of plastic waste – an ...
Wanpen Pajai
We need new weapons against packaging waste
Last month, researchers found microplastics — small, microscopic pieces of plastic fragments — within human lungs for the first time. This comes on the heels of news that microplastics were found in human blood, which may travel around the body and enter organs. Microplastics find their ...
SIMON BALDWIN
Commentary: What can Southeast Asia do about all this COVID-19 waste?
For the last couple of years, virtually every news feed or broadcast has included images of mask-clad people or health workers suited up as protection from COVID-19. While the images might be ephemeral, those masks and personal protective equipment (PPE), along with used test kits and ...
JJ Rose
Consumption of plastics doubles in Myanmar amid pandemic: environmental group
According to Thant Myanmar, the consumption of plastic has doubled during the Covid-19 pandemic in Myanmar. Ma The Su Aye, manager of Thant Myanmar’s Rural Waste Management, told DMG that the increase was due to the increasing use of plastics, which are currently being used during ...
Development Media Group