Since China’s “National Sword” policy took effect in January 2018, banning imports of contaminated plastic and electronic waste, the recycling industry that once concentrated inside China has scattered across the region. As a result, Thailand has absorbed a large share of it.
For decades China took in almost half the world’s recyclable waste. When it shut its doors, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam became the new destinations.
Thai government data show the country imported more than 1.1 million tonnes of plastic scrap between 2018 and 2021. Over the same period, sorting and e-waste recycling plants multiplied across several provinces. Authorities have repeatedly raided and prosecuted factories operating without a licence. Additionally, investigators say Chinese nationals controlled many of them behind the scenes.
A pattern investigators say repeats itself
Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI), the Department of Industrial Works and the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division have identified a recurring pattern across multiple provinces.
According to DSI, several factories used Thai nationals as nominees to apply for waste sorting licences (category 105) and recycling licences (category 106). Then, they handed real operational control to Chinese owners. In some cases, operators leased land long term from Thai owners, then subdivided it and subleased plots to other Chinese investors running similar recycling operations. Officials in Chonburi province noted that during inspections they often could not locate the actual operators. Instead, they found only Chinese caretakers and interpreters on site.
On the import side, the Customs Department says importers brought some hazardous waste into the country through ports by falsely declaring it as scrap metal or ordinary raw materials. Between April 2025 and March 2026, officials impounded 714 suspect containers, including 18 that they seized at Laem Chabang port on 10 March after importers declared the contents as scrap metal and aluminium from the United States and the Netherlands. As a result, authorities are preparing to return the shipments under the Basel Convention process.
Cases officials have confirmed
Cadmium waste, Tak province. In April 2024 officials found cadmium waste that someone had illegally removed from a landfill in Tak, and traced it to Baud and Beyond Company (formerly Padaeng Industry). Authorities estimated the volume at between 13,450 and 15,000 tonnes, and later found traces scattered across Samut Sakhon, Chonburi and Bangkok.
The Samut Sakhon governor declared a disaster zone and ordered the related smelter shut. The provincial public health office reported that several workers had cadmium levels above the safety threshold. Then prime minister Srettha Thavisin ordered the waste transported back to Tak for disposal. Cadmium is a known carcinogen; researchers have historically linked cadmium exposure to Itai-itai disease, first documented in Japan, when the metal leaches into water sources and enters the food chain.
Khlong Kio, Ban Bueng district, Chonburi. DSI says this area, roughly 88 rai in size, has hosted a cluster of recycling plants that Chinese investors have owned since 2019. The Chonburi Industrial Office had already ordered 17 of these operations suspended. Local residents have repeatedly complained of wastewater and persistent odour. Moreover, they say water salinity in the area climbed so high they could not use it for household purposes or to raise livestock.
The Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand foundation (EARTH) collected environmental samples and said it linked the contamination it found to the plants. In March 2024 police raided the area and arrested a Chinese man, seizing roughly 50 tonnes of electronic components. In October 2025, DSI inspected a leased site that another company ran in the same subdistrict. As a result, they impounded more than 300 tonnes of e-waste that investigators classified as category 3 hazardous material. Officials say Khlong Kio also served as a staging point for the Tak cadmium waste. It was also a source of the e-waste that later turned up in Samut Sakhon.
Plaeng Yao, Chachoengsao. On 10 November 2024, police and the Department of Industrial Works inspected a cluster of warehouses in Plaeng Yao district. Inspectors found nine of ten warehouses operating as unlicensed factories, mostly sorting and shredding waste including e-waste. Local owners had leased the warehouses to Chinese investors. Officials arrested a 59 year old Indian national who was operating the plastic sorting machinery. Additionally, they found hazardous heavy metals including lead and arsenic on site.
Si Maha Phot, Prachinburi. DSI and related agencies describe Prachinburi and Chachoengsao as major hubs for Chinese-financed factories. Residents in Nong Hoi subdistrict, Si Maha Phot district, have filed complaints since March 2024 after witnesses reported an explosion and smoke at one plant. Officials later found an unlicensed hazardous waste landfill next to the site.
What the contamination risks
The e-waste and industrial residue found across these cases contain toxic heavy metals, including lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic, none of which break down naturally. The Pollution Control Department and environmental researchers say that when operators stockpile these materials in the open or landfill them improperly, rainwater washes them into soil and water sources. Then, they can enter the food chain through agricultural produce. Unlicensed plants typically lack wastewater treatment systems, so they discharge the water they use to wash raw materials directly into public waterways.
At Khlong Kio, EARTH’s measurements found water salinity increasing the closer testing sites were to the plants, with the outflow pipe recording the highest reading. Officials say open burning of e-waste and plastic to extract metals, a practice they have found at plants of this kind, produces smoke and particulate matter that affects nearby communities. Furthermore, burning chlorinated plastics such as PVC is a known source of dioxins and furans, both of which researchers classify as carcinogens.
The government response
Thai authorities have tightened controls over the past two years. From 1 January 2025, Thailand halted plastic waste imports entirely, following a cabinet resolution the government passed in December 2024. On 24 June 2025, the Ministry of Commerce issued a new ban on e-waste imports. As a result, the restricted list expanded from 428 to 463 items and customs codes updated to match the 2022 Harmonised System. This was a move aimed at closing loopholes that importers had used for false declarations.
Enforcement has continued into 2026. Customs has stepped up joint inspections with DSI and the Pollution Control Department at Laem Chabang port, while factory raids continue periodically. For example, there was an inspection of an unlicensed e-waste sorting plant in Samut Sakhon in May 2026. Under Section 244 of the Customs Act, offenders face up to 10 years in prison or a fine of up to 500,000 baht.
Environmental agencies and civil society groups say occasional raids are not enough, noting that many factories officials ordered shut have reopened. Therefore, they are calling for sustained scrutiny of nominee ownership structures, cross-border money flows, and stricter enforcement of environmental law.
This report draws on findings from Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation, the Department of Industrial Works, the Customs Department, provincial authorities and the Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand foundation. Official statements identified the individuals named in relation to specific raids. The allegations described in this report reflect the findings of ongoing investigations and prosecutions.
The story Nominee-run Chinese recycling plants leaked toxic waste across Thailand as seen on Thaiger News.
