Supawan Mind Sangnuch

English 10/04

June 5, 2019

The Amount of Plastic Mahidol University International Demonstration School Used Each

Year

Plastic is a material that is generally used across the world, including here in Mahidol

University International Demonstration School. It’s a material that is inexpensive, light

weighted, and convenience to use. It’s a part of most of the material in people modern life,

from a simple plastic bottle up to many house furniture. However, the problem with single-use

plastic is that its a material that is not easy to biodegrade. Referring to Leblanc (2019), it would

take about 450 years or more for a plastic bottle to decompose. Plastics has made a

tremendous contribution to increasing the amount of pollution in the world. Therefore, many

organizations like Greenpeace, Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) are dealing with this

problem. How many plastic bottles does a student use in a single day? Imagine how much that

number would be if it was considered on the grand scale. At Mahidol University International

Demonstration School, the use of plastic can be commonly seen. How many plastic wastes does

MUIDS use per year? Students of Mahidol University International Demonstration School

should reduce the amount of plastic waste because it harms the environment.

The purpose of the research report is to find out how many plastic MUIDS used each

year. This research is crucial to bring awareness of the problem of plastic pollution to MUIDS.

The author uses three academic articles from different sources to relate the results and

interpretation of MUIDS recorded data to other research studies.

 The consolidated data showed the number of waste product, MUIDS created per year.

Six types of garbage took records are organic wastes, plastic bags and bottles, paper, cardboard,

aluminum cans, and Hazardous Waste. The figure 1 below shows that most of the garbage are

organic wastes which are 13485 kilograms or 87% follow by plastic bags and bottles, paper,

cardboard, aluminum cans and Hazardous Waste which is 1074 kilograms, 383 kilograms, 318

kilograms, 236 kilograms with percentages of 7%, 2%, 2%, 2%, and 0%. However, for inorganic

waste, plastics make up the most significant portion with a percentage of 53% as it is shown in

figure 2. Even though the school has a solution to decrease and recycle the amount of single-use

plastic, there are many others way that is the key to this solution.

Referring to the research of ‘Reducing Single-Use Plastic in a Thai School Community’ ,

there have been studies about different methods for reducing the amount of plastic at St. Joseph

Convent School (SJC) (Heyer, 2018). The research concluded the results of each method, including

taxation of single-use plastics, waste management programs, incentive programs, educational

awareness, and alternative materials as it is shown in figure 3. These methods are used in

different countries. However, each of the methods has different Pros and Cons. So it was

concluded that the utilization of each method, depends entirely on the area. Having said that,

the data shows that the country of Thailand, specifically, will greatly benefit from the methods

of creating educational awareness and utilizing alternative materials. Creating educational

awareness is a sustainable way of developing in the community. According to NIST International

school, they started to use other materials instead of plastic. They prohibited stores from using

plastic containers and packages. As a result, NIST created and pioneered the free-plastic trend.
They also shown to has reduced large amounts of plastic each year. This is an example that MUIDS

should consider if the school plans to reduce its plastic consumption rate.

Figure 1 The Amount of MUIDS garbage in 2018

Figure 2 Number of MUIDS Inorganic Waste in 2018

 Figure 3 Strategies for reducing plastic consumption

This research report concludes that plastic consumption can be effectively reduced if

the school were to use the right solution. Most of MUIDS inorganic wastes consist of single-use

plastic. This is a problem that MUIDS should take serious action by banning plastic and used

other alternative materials. However, If the students in the school don't change their habits,

regarding waste disposal, no solution would be able to solve the problem of plastic

consumption.

Heyer, K.(2018). Reducing Single-Use Plastic in a Thai School Community. Retrieved May 31,
2019 from
http://chemistry3.chemistry.sc.chula.ac.th/images/Programs/BSAC/ISSP/2018/G6/Reducin
g%20Single-Use%20Plastic%20in%20a%20Thai%20School%20Community.pdf

Leblanc, R. (2019). How Long Will it Take that Bag of Trash to Decompose in a Landfill?.
Retrieved May 31, 2019 from https://www.thebalancesmb.com/how-long-does-it-take-
garbage-to-decompose-2878033
NIST INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL. (2019). PlasticFreeNIST Retrieved May 31,
2019 from https://service.nist.ac.th/plasticfreenist/