BANGKOK, Thailand – (October 30, 2024) at the Bangkok Metropolitan Council’s fourth general session meeting for the year 2024, held in the council meeting room at the Irawat Pattana Building, Bangkok City Hall 2, Din Daeng, Putthiphat Thanyathammanon, councilor for Yannawa District, serving as the chairman of the special committee reviewing the Bangkok ordinance draft regarding service fees for waste or refuse management under public health law, reported the committee’s review findings to the Bangkok Council, chaired by Mr. Surachit Pongsinghvitaya, Council President. The meeting voted to approve the ordinance, and it will soon be published in the Royal Gazette.
After the meeting, Chakkaphan Phiw-ngam, Deputy Governor of Bangkok, said that the 2019 ordinance had previously set the waste management service fee (waste collection fee) for households at 80 baht per month, which was deemed too high. Therefore, the Governor of Bangkok called for a new ordinance with two rates: 1) Sorted waste – 20 baht per month; 2) Unsorted waste – 60 baht per month.
Bangkok adjusted fees to make them more appropriate and to encourage citizens to reduce and separate waste at its source more seriously. The main change compared to 2003 and 2019 lies in the new ordinance, which factors waste volume into the fee rate, offering incentives to those disposing of small amounts of waste (under 20 liters daily) or those sorting household waste at the source.
Additionally, appropriate fee rates are set for large-scale operators generating high daily waste volumes, promoting behavior change for waste sorting. The new fee rate is projected to increase Bangkok’s revenue from large operators from 166 million baht to 664 million baht, with a primary focus on raising fees for large operators with significant waste contributions. Those sorting waste at the source will see continuous fee reductions. This ordinance aims to foster public consciousness and awareness among Bangkok officials to better serve the community.
The updated fee details are divided into collection and disposal rates per service:
- Collection and disposal per cubic meter – 300 baht per cubic meter.
- General waste collection rates – 3 groups:
Group 1: Waste not exceeding 20 liters/day – collection 30 baht, disposal 30 baht, totaling 60 baht/month (previously 20 baht).
Group 2: Exceeding 20 liters/day but not over 500 liters/day (previously 40 baht per 20 liters) or over 500 liters/day but under 1 cubic meter/day (previously 2,000 baht) – collection 60 baht per 20 liters, disposal 60 baht per 20 liters, totaling 120 baht per 20 liters.
Group 3: Exceeding 1 cubic meter/day (previously 2,000 baht per 1 cubic meter) – collection 3,250 baht per cubic meter, disposal 4,750 baht per cubic meter, totaling 8,000 baht per cubic meter.
Last year, Bangkok did not enforce this ordinance, yet the “No Mixing” project managed to reduce waste by more than 10% through public cooperation. Once the ordinance is implemented, it’s expected to reduce Bangkok’s waste significantly and generate additional revenue from the fees.
Following this, Bangkok under the leadership of Governor Chadchart Sittipunt and relevant agencies will conduct public awareness campaigns, expecting the ordinance to take effect within 180 days. In Bangkok, there are over 2 million households, with around 50,000 households reportedly separating waste. Initial registration will be available through the application and at the sanitation departments of all 50 district offices. After registration, officials will verify that waste sorting is actually being done and collect a fee of 20 baht per month as before.
