25 August 2026 – At the Pollution Control Department, the Marine Litter Prevention through Education, Sustainable Design, and Recycling of Plastic Packaging (MA-RE-DESIGN) closed its final chapter in the Project Working Group meeting, chaired by Dr Surin Worakijthamrong, Director-General of the Pollution Control Department (PCD). The meeting brought together representatives from GIZ, WWF Thailand and UNEP-COBSEA, as well as representatives from provincial and district offices under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ministry of Interior, and local administrations from Koh Tao and Trang City, to review what MA-RE-DESIGN had achieved, and what comes next.
Director of Waste Minimisation and Utilisation Subdivision, PCD, Moderator
(Left) Jarukan Rassiri, Director and Cluster Coordinator for Natural Resources, Energy and Mobility, and Alvaro Zurita, MA-RE-DESIGN Project Director, GIZ, presented the outcomes of the project. (Right) Eknarin Ariyavongvivat, Marine Conservation Lead and MA-RE-DESIGN Project Manager at WWF Thailand, and Mahesh Pradhan, COBSEA Coordinator presented the project outcomes.
The outcomes of the project were significant. MA-RE-DESIGN worked upstream, reshaping how packaging is designed, and downstream, proving reduction is achievable where people live and travel. The meeting was also joined by MA-RE-DESIGN partners, and communities: the Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA), the Department of Local Administration (DLA), Trash Treasure, and the Koh Tao Tourism Association.
Designing plastics a second chance
One of the key achievements in policy development is centred on advancing Eco-design – the principle that recycling alone cannot fix packaging built for disposal. Working with SMEs, the project introduced Design for Recyclability (D4R) principles with Chulalongkorn University’s PETROMAT centre, ran an Eco-Design Sparking Innovation Award, and hosted a knowledge exchange meeting with German experts.
Alongside Eco-design, the project advanced Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) – holding producers accountable for their products’ full lifecycle, funded through an EPR fee; EPR capacity building by the Sustainable Environment Research Institute, Chulalongkorn University (SERI) experts; developing recommendations for a Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO); and fee-calculation guidelines, with input from Germany’s cyclos.
Where the waste stops at Trang and Koh Tao
MA-RE-DESIGN then illustrated how policies could be translated into action through two pilot areas near marine protected zones: Trang City Municipality and Koh Tao, home to coral reefs, seagrass beds, dugongs, sea turtles and dolphins. Implemented by WWF Thailand, the project worked alongside the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR), tourism businesses, community enterprises, and local communities to promote systematic waste management and support the implementation of policies at the local level. These efforts also laid the foundation for the project’s results and approaches to be sustained, continued and scaled up beyond the project’s completion.
Trang launched its ‘Trang: Plastic-Free City’ campaign, installing over 150 waste-sorting bins and ten hazardous-waste points linked to a rewards system. Koh Tao declared single-use-plastic-free zones across its beaches and dive sites, adding over 100 sorting bins and six water-refill stations. Together with tourism-sector commitments under WWF Thailand’s Plastic Smart Cities initiative, the two sites diverted a combined 241 tonnes of plastic waste from the sea.
A regional ripple
Through the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA) of the United Nations of Environment Programme (UNEP), case studies and tools from Trang and Koh Tao are now shared to the wider region, across its nine countries via the East Asian Seas Regional Node and the annual Sea of Solutions forum. This has supported knowledge exchange and the adoption of successful approaches in other member countries.
Sustainability anchor
Closing a project is not closing the work. Under the lead of the PCD, ahead lies continued advocacy for policy advancement, contributing to Thailand’s Plastics Roadmap. Dr Surin Worakijthamrong, Director-General, Pollution Control Department, highlighted the PCD’s commitment in addressing plastic pollution through implementing the draft Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Management Act, and draft Sustainable Packaging Management Act. He also emphasised the valuable relationships between the Thai and German governments in international knowledge exchange regarding the sustainable design for packaging and EPR scheme.
