Doi Kham takes vital greener approach to hazardous waste management
Thailand has an average of 1.03 million tonnes of mismanaged waste each year, according to the Thailand Development Research Institute.
To combat this alarming environmental threat, 12 leading organisations have teamed up to launch a project they hope will help Thailand become a zero-waste society.
The “Create a Green World” project hopes to tackle waste management along the lines of the bio-circular-green economy that deals with global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, hoping to create a sustainable environmentally friendly Thai society.
The project aims to recycle and upcycle waste to boost value and reduce the use of new resources by minimising waste problems that affect the environment and quality of life, and help create carbon credits.
The initiative has been piloted by Doi Kham with its network partners who are cooperating and supporting the recycling/upcycling of discarded UHT boxes, dialysis fluid bags and other waste materials for reuse.
The 12 organisations comprise Thailand Post, Thailand Post Distribution, Doi Kham Food Products, the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation, the National Health Security Office, the Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organisation, Chulalongkorn University, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Lat Krabang, Tetra Pak, Major Cineplex Public Group, Best Polymer and Advance Match.
All 12 inked a MOU on June 1 to build a green world. The initiative will last until 2025.
Ampon Food, SIG Combibloc and the Office of the National Council for Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation have also voiced their readiness to join the much-needed project.
“His Majesty Rama IX had a very broad perspective on the environment,” Doi Kham president and chief executive Pipatpong Israsena Na Ayu said. “Therefore, we are concentrating mainly on the environment, asking what are we going to do for it.
“It is something we need to be aware of, that everyone in the country or everyone in the world needs to be aware of, otherwise this planet won’t become livable anymore in the future,” he pointed out.
“Do we want to pass on a dirty world to our children and grandchildren or do we want to give the people we love a world that is clean, a world that is livable,” Pipatpong asked.
“This [project] is the idea behind it all. Doi Kham is trying to move towards a bio-circular-green economy,” he added.
