Publications

Increasing Transparency Industrial Pollution Management through Citizen Science: A Report on Thailand’s Waste Situation and Management
Arnika and Ecological Alert and Recovery – Thailand (EARTH), October 2016
Thailand and a National Path: Towards Sustainable Waste Management
The Thai government has announced that it will resolve municipal waste problems as part of its top national agenda by targeting the disposal of over 30 million tonnes of unmanaged waste, and setting up proper ways to dispose both hazardous and municipal solid wastes in 2021.

Scam Recycling: e-Dumping on Asia by US Recyclers
Basel Action Network (BAN), September 2016
Utilizing high-tech methods to track high-tech wastes, the environmental watchdog, Basel Action Network (BAN) as part of their e-Trash Transparency Project, funded by the Body Shop Foundation, planted GPS trackers into 205 old printers and monitors and then delivered them to charities and recyclers. The new report, entitled Scam Recycling: e-Dumping on Asia by US Recyclers, revealed that of those that were handed over to American electronics recyclers, 40 percent did not get recycled in the US as expected by customers, but were instead exported to highly-polluting and unsafe operations in developing countries -- mostly in Asia.

Global Report on the Status of Legal Limits on Lead in Paint
United Nations Environment Programme | May 2016
This report provides a global overview on the progress of countries in passing laws and regulations that limit the manufacture, import, export, sale and use of lead paints. It also illustrates a range of legal approaches that attempt to limit the use of lead-containing paint. In so doing, it becomes a valuable reference for countries seeking to establish their own laws and regulations on lead in paint.
A global target has been set for all countries to have lead paint controls by 2020. According to this report, only 36 per cent of countries have legally binding limits on lead paint. This suggests a significant gap still needs to be filled to achieve the target on time.

The ProSUM Project “I am useful” : Prospecting Secondary raw materials in the Urban mine and Mining wastes
Presentation by Dr. Jaco Huisman, United Nations University
April 2016

The E-Waste Challenge: State-of-the-art e-waste sector knowleadge and best practice combine with new generation online learning design and delivery
Climate-KIC/UNEP 2016

Trends in E-waste Generation: UNU’s Global E-Waste Monitor - 2014
Presentation by Dr. Jaco Huisman, United Nations University
14 April 2016

Developing national strategies for phasing out mercury-containing thermometers and sphygmomanometers in health care, including in the context of the Minamata Convention on Mercury: key considerations and step-by-step guidance
World Health Organization, 2015
With the adoption of the Minamata Convention on Mercury in October 2013, clear time-bound targets were set for phasing out the manufacture, export or import of a number of mercury-added products specified in the Convention. For thermometers and sphygmomanometers that are included in a wider category of non-electronic medical devices regulated under Article 4 of the Convention, the phase-out date is 2020, with the possibility of Party-specific exemptions up to 2030. An open-ended exemption is also afforded to products for research, calibration of instrumentation, and for use as a reference standard.

Establishing the Pollution Monitoring Volunteer Network in Thailand
By Penchom Saetang, Director, Ecological Alert and Recovery – Thailand (EARTH), December 2015
Since 1994, communities started their fighting with the government’s industrial investment projects in the eastern, northern, northeaster regions. This situation has prompted growing conflicts and clashes between communities and the government, meanwhile the polluters have been enjoying their privileges of investment and making profits in the country.

Chemical Accidents and Civil Society Role in Supporting the Toxics Free Future in Thailand
By Penchom Saetang, Director, Ecological Alert and Recovery – Thailand (EARTH)
22 November 2015
Chemical accidents in Thailand: a case of Klong Toey chemical explosion, National Strategic Plan on Chemical Management, and the key challenges under the National Strategic Plan on Chemical Management

We Used to Fear Bullets, Now We Fear Bulldozers: Dirty coal mining by military cronies & Thai companies Ban Chaung, Dawei District, Myanmar
By Tarkapaw Youth Group, Dawei Development Association (DDA), and the Tenasserim River & Indigenous People Networks (Trip Net), October 2015
This report documents the environmental and social impacts of the Ban Chaung coal mining project in Dawei District of Myanmar’s Tanintharyi Region - the serious harm that has already happened to villagers’ health, livelihoods, security, and way of life, and the devastating contamination of local rivers and streams. Although local people are opposed to coal mining, they were never given the chance to voice their concerns; only knew about the project once the bulldozers started digging on their land. Now the villagers have joined hands to challenge irresponsible coal mining in their area, they call for alternative, democratic, and inclusive development in Tanintharyi Region.<