The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) plans to encourage households in Bangkok to separate wet and dry waste for reuse and recycling.
Speaking during a panel meeting about waste development in the city on Tuesday, Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt said the BMA will pilot the policy in some district areas first.
Waste issues have caught the public's attention lately.
After checking the BMA's budgets, it was found the administration has spent more than 10 billion baht to dispose of rubbish, while only 6 billion baht was spent on public health and 4 billion baht on education.
Nevertheless, the disposal of waste also requires the cooperation of the private sector in waste management.
"First of all, the BMA should encourage residents to separate their waste, which also means working with the private sector," said Mr Chadchart.
"We can start separating wet and dry waste from rubbish bins, before keeping the remaining dry waste for reuse and recycling."
The BMA must also improve its system to transport wet waste.
Carrying out fertiliser development or producing vegetable gardens from waste collected from separate rubbish bins is also part of the waste management plan.
In addition to monitoring the environmental impact, the BMA must react to local complaints about the foul smell emerging from a rubbish disposal facility in On Nut.
Mr Chadchart said the BMA must monitor the city's waste collections as it is considered a major environmental problem -- one that causes polluted water and dust issues -- affecting people's quality of life. People were reluctant to separate waste because they assumed the city dumped it all in one place, reports quoted him saying.
The BMA's Environment Department also suggested some guidelines for waste disposal around schools, communities, buildings and festival sites, to encourage locals to separate and better manage their waste.
Chulalongkorn University's Environmental Research Institute also has worked with 30 organisations from private and civil society sectors to draft an operational plan for waste management in the capital for the period 2023-2025, he said.
Meanwhile, in Pattaya, deputy mayor Manote Nongyai said Pattaya City is accelerating an area survey to establish a waste transfer station with three waste power plants and a target to dispose of 1,500 tonnes of waste each day.