The Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) has set a deadline for all waste coming from 4,000 factories located in industrial estates nationwide to be legally disposed of by September.
Governor Verapong Chaiperm said 2,454 factories of the 4,000 factories for which it is responsible are disposing of waste legally.
The agency has already met its goal of bringing 20 types of factory that emit a large amount of waste, comprising 341 factories, into the industrial waste management system.
Under the manifest system of the Department of Industrial Works (DIW), a shipping document is issued for tracking hazardous waste from the time it leaves factories to when it reaches the off-site waste management facility that will treat or dispose of it.
Each party involved in the shipping, including factory operators, transporters and disposers, signs and keeps one of the manifest copies.
The manifest contains information on the type and quantity of waste, instructions for handling the waste, and signature lines for all parties involved in the disposal process.
Both paper and e-manifest forms are used in Thailand, with the DIW monitoring the electronic system.
The system allows factories to verify that waste has been properly delivered and that no waste has been lost or unaccounted for.
Kriengkrai Lertsirisamphan, managing director of Professional Waste Technology Plc, the SET-listed industrial waste management company, said almost all manifests forms are prepared by waste disposal companies as a service for clients.
Less than 5% of its clients prepare the forms themselves, he said, adding that out of the 3 million tonnes of hazardous waste generated each year, only 1 million tonnes are disposed of legally.
However, Mr Kriengkrai said reaching the goal for factories located in industrial estates is possible because it is easier to monitor trucks going in and out of estates, unlike factories located elsewhere.
In a related development, the IEAT reported it sold 3,267 rai of land in the first seven months of the 2013 fiscal year starting October 2012, representing an increase of 13.31% over the same period in the previous year.
Mr Verapong said figures for the whole year could reach 3,600 to 3,800 rai.