The industry experienced two major hiccups last year: the European Union anti-dumping tariffs on Asian plastic bags, which affected five local manufacturers with rates at 5.1 to 14.3 per cent,

and threats of taxes on packaging by the Thai government, which prompted the industry to initiate a Bt50-million-a-year recycling project.

The industry also saw a trade deficit, with Thailand importing more plastics than it exports

at Bt70.9 billion to Bt86.2 billion in 2005, according to the Thai Plastic Industries Association (TPIA).

"A solid technological foundation will give the Thai plastics industry key leverage in the global arena," said Saksit Tridech, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology, citing the need for the government to aggressively research and develop bioplastics.

He added that it was not good enough for Thailand to be number one in Asia and number eight in the world in terms of plastics production "downstream", but lack the capacity to produce its own raw materials or be in the "upstream" of the production process.

Initiated in September last year by the National Innovation Agency in partnership with the Thai Bioplastics Society and the German Technological Cooperation (GTZ), the programme, as stated in its eight-year roadmap, aims to increase cassava yield and quality, improve the technological and human resource capacity, and develop strong domestic and international markets.

Chobvit Lubpairee, a member of the National Research Council of Thailand's executive board, said that cassava, with its competitive price at US$180 (Bt6,280) a tonne, compared to other bioplastics raw materials such as potato and corn at US$420 a tonne or wheat starch at $380 a tonne, would give Thailand the edge in the global market.

Burchard Rauschelbach of GTZ said that the bargaining power was with the buyers, whose inclination favours bioplastics over petroleum-based plastics, and it was

vital for producers to adapt to demand.

Saksit was optimistic that Thailand would be able to start producing bioplastics within the next two to three years, while concurrently strengthening its technological foundation through research. 

Ki Nan Tsui

The Nation