of plastic garbage from abroad in 2018, and is set to import an additional 220,000 tonnes before existing contracts expire in September 2020. Increasingly, plastic is the scourge of Bangkok's network of storm water pumping stations, clogging pumps during seasonal downpours and regularly turning thoroughfares into muddy rivers. Thailand is considered to be one of the world's largest consumers of plastic bags. Government figures suggest that the average Thai uses eight plastic bags a day. In contrast, the average person in France uses around 80 a year. In a 2015 report, the conservation group Ocean Conservancy estimated that just five countries—China, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand—were responsible for over half of plastic waste dumped into the ocean. Mr Narong Ruengsri, head of Bangkok's drainage department, said removing plastic from the canals and drainage system is a constant battle. "Every day we go fish out around 2,000 tons of waste from the drainage channels," he told AFP. Official figures show the 11,500 tonnes of garbage Bangkok produces each day, at least one tonne of which is plastic, is growing by 10% a year. Officially, only 16% is recycled. The PCD estimates that Thailand consumes 4.4 billion plastic water bottles per year. Sixty percent of containers are capped with plastic wrap covering the cap, an unnecessary feature in the eyes of the PCD and due to be phased out by 2019. The cap seals alone contribute 520 tonnes of plastic per year to the environment. In February 2018 the PCD reached agreement with five leading water bottlers to cease using plastic cap seals by 1 April 2018, with all other bottlers to follow by 2019. The Environment Ministry claims that Thailand's 24 coastal provinces produce 10 million tonnes of waste per year. Ten percent of that finds its way into the sea. In February 2017, a 10 kilometer-long patch of plastic refuse was found floating off Chumphon Province. The Thai Marine and Coastal Resources Department has noted that at least 300 sea animals on average—60 per cent of which are whales and dolphins—die from eating plastic fishing gear and trash each year. Filter feeding invertebrates tested off the coast of Chonburi Province showed high levels of microplastics, leading the authors to warn that, "Health risks are possible when people consume these contaminated marine organisms, particularly shellfish." In May 2018 a juvenile pilot whale in southern Thailand beached and died. An autopsy revealed