German and Thai public and private agencies came together on 7 December 2020 to launch Collaborative Action for Single-Use Plastic Prevention in Southeast Asia Project (CAP-SEA) in Thailand. The partnership – whose membership consists of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Thailand Environment Institute Foundation (TEI), Pollution Control Department (PCD), Thai Industrial Standards Institute (TISI), Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), Thailand Business Council for Sustainable Development (TBCSD) and NSTDA - aims to reduce single use plastic by introducing innovative business models and by developing stakeholders’ capacities.
As part of the launch, a kick-off workshop among partners was organized to define various elements of the project, including circular economy and policy framework, eco-design and standards, pilot project and knowledge management.
In the opening session, Dr. Narong Sirilertworakul remarked that CAP-SEA will help advance Thailand’s Bio-Circular-Green Economy (BCG) agenda that the government is implementing to enable sustainable and inclusive economy. NSTDA is finalizing its BCG Action Plan and the circular economy component is targeting at 3 main areas - plastic waste, agriculture & food Industry and construction sector – with a key strategy to develop pilot projects that have co-benefits with stakeholders.