Siam Piwat Co., Ltd., Unilever Thai Group of Companies, Kao Industrial (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Tetra Pak (Thailand) Co., Ltd., in collaboration with partner network, join forces in launching a recycling campaign for the World Environment Day. Drive-Thru Recycle Collection Center campaign is the first of its kind in Thailand. The prototype allows the inner Bangkok residents to drop off their recyclable waste conveniently at the drive-thru points located in Siam Paragon.
Environmental problems pose long-term threats to the daily lives of people. Thus, it is the urgent global mission for everyone to take part in making the change, starting from simply managing our household waste. As such, this Recycle Collection Center campaign was initiated to set up a model for the integrated waste management under the Circular Economy framework and help minimize plastic waste leakage into the environment from upstream to downstream. Customers and the general public are invited to drop off their sorted clean waste for recycling and upcycling into value-added products. Two Drive-Thru Recycle Collection Centers are located at Siam Paragon, at the Tour Bus Parking Area, G Floor, North Wing and at Exit 4, G Floor (Bangkok Bank wing).
The boxes installed as the Recycle Collection Center are also made from engineered wood that are upcycled from non-recyclable multilayer packaging / refill bags, designed by Duck Unit Co., Ltd. and manufactured by Best Polymer International Co., Ltd. Before dropped off at the Drive-Thru, all the waste must be cleaned and classified by its raw material type under the following 8 different categories: 1) Paper 2) Glass 3) Steel and Aluminum 4) Mixed Hard Plasticincluding milk bottles, shampoo, conditioner, liquid soap, laundry detergent, fabric softener containers 5) Stretchy Plastic 6) Multilayer Plastic including snack bags, dishwashing detergent, detergent and fabric softener refill bags 7) PET Plastic Bottles including drinking water and beverage bottles or dishwashing detergent bottles 8)Cartons including milk, juice or coconut milk cartons. The collected waste would then go through the recycling process and be converted into recycled raw materials for the transformation into multiple value-added products which will be redirected to consumers for sale. In the near future, an application will also be introduced to collect data on the waste type and weight, assess its cleanliness and keep track of the process cycle from the minute that consumers drop off their household waste at the Recycle Collection Center to the destination Siam Piwat delivers to for the recycling processes. Customers can pick up a bag tag at the designated area and adhere on the waste bag with legible information before dropping off at the Recycle Collection Center.
Besides, the Alliances have teamed up with the Less Plastic Thailand Network to co-create an optimized system for non-recyclable plastic waste management by transforming it into an alternative fuel. On this process, the non-recyclable plastic waste such as food packaging from takeaways and delivery service will otherwise be sorted and passed on to Wongpanit International Company Limited for refining separation process and converted into Refuse-derived fuel (RDF), a renewable energy source. Apart from giving new life and adding value to this worthless plastic waste, the process itself represents as a truly zero waste management system at scale.
It is, thus, the major responsibility of all Thai people to maintain the ecological balance and tackle the ongoing single-use plastic problem in Thailand in a more sustainable way. Positive change can be brought about if everyone takes proactive steps to adjust our behavior and lifestyle, beginning with separating waste and ensuring that resources are fully utilized before disposed. All these will ultimately help create a more sustainable and better planet.
