Deposit Return System: DRS Legal Measures on Consumer Participation to Reduce the Carbon Footprint of Packaging Life Cycle

Abstract

This research consists purposes were 1. to study legal issues regarding consumer participation in reducing the carbon footprint of packaging life cycles 2. to study principles, concepts, and principles of international environmental law, foreign laws and Thai laws related to reducing the carbon footprint of packaging life cycles and 3. to propose legal measures to promote consumer participation in reducing the carbon footprint of packaging life cycles. This research is qualitative in nature, employing a documentary research method through the study of statutory laws, relevant legal commentaries, Supreme Court judgments, academic articles, theses, research papers, and online sources. The information collected from these relevant documents is then analyzed using content analysis. The research findings revealed 1) Legal Issues Regarding Consumer Participation in Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Packaging Life Cycles. Thailand lacks a law promoting consumer participation in reducing the carbon footprint of packaging life cycles. Only the principles of expanded producer responsibility and voluntary consumer responsibility have been incorporated into the second National Waste Management Action Plan (2022-2027), which has not yet become law 2) A study of the principles, concepts, and principles of international environmental law, foreign laws and Thai laws related to reducing the carbon footprint of packaging life cycles revealed that, due to environmental problems and climate change, there is an international agreement for members of the Framework Convention on Climate Change to cooperate in achieving carbon neutrality and net-zero carbon reduction to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. This shifts responsibility from local government organizations and the public, who must pay waste management fees, to producers, based on product carbon footprint assessment principles, from design, production, delivery, collection, reuse, recycling, energy utilization, waste disposal and packaging waste and 3) Proposing legal measures to promote consumer participation in reducing the carbon footprint of packaging life cycles. It was found that legal measures aimed at promoting consumer participation through the use of a deposit refund system, where a small deposit is included in the product price and refunded to consumers when the packaging or product is returned to the designated EPR system point. This aims to promote consumer awareness and responsibility for consumption through efficient sorting, collection and recycling processes, and to promote consumer participation in reducing the carbon footprint of product life cycles. This will serve as a guideline for developing laws for sustainable production and consumption.