Environment Ministry, Mitr Phol launch low-carbon model city project in Suphan Buri

During the opening ceremony on Monday, Minister Varawut Silpa-Archa announced visions, goals and guidelines for sustainable development, which would eventually pave the way for Thailand to become carbon neutral and achieve its net zero greenhouse emissions goal.

Varawut said Thailand had expressed its commitment at the COP26 summit in November 2021 to tackle climate problems to ensure it achieves carbon neutrality by 2050 and attain the net zero target by 2065 even though the country has emitted 300-350 million tons of carbon dioxide in a year.

However, he said, work in pursuit of implemented policies could help cut down the amount emitted by the country.

“The initiation of the ‘Suphan Buri Carbon Neutral Model’ project will serve as a model for any industry that aims to achieve carbon neutrality and consolidates cooperation among all sectors to create a balance in the economic, social and environmental management of the country to ensure it keeps moving forward sustainably,” said Varawut.

The project aims to cut carbon dioxide emissions by at least 270,000 tons of CO2 equivalent by the year 2023 to ensure carbon neutrality of the site together with operations in line with a bio-circular-green (BCG) economy, helping Suphan Buri become a low-carbon society.

Mitr Phol chairman Buntoeng Vongkusolkit said the company placed great importance on business operations that were aimed at sustainable development to steer inclusive growth.

The agro-industrial company therefore prioritises technology use, innovations and group knowledge to reduce environmental impacts and address climate change problems.

Buntoeng said Mitr Phol is ready to become a model organisation in sustainability, aiming to bring about carbon neutrality by 2030 and achieve its net zero target by 2050 by emphasising sustainability upstream to downstream under the concept “From waste to value creation”.

“Our plants use renewable resources while generating added value for the production process at no impact on the environment but more economic opportunities. As a result, we are planning to and have rigorously worked to turn Mitr Phol Dan Chang into a carbon neutral model factory,” he said.

To achieve the carbon neutral goal, Mitr Phol Dan Chang has adopted six operating guidelines:
1) Using green energy such as biomass and solar power in the production process;
2) Modern farm management with green cane harvesting and purchasing cane leaves as raw materials to reduce sugarcane burning;
3) Developing cane and sugar into bio-based products according to the BCG economy model to generate added value for products such as biodegradable plastic packages and health food supplements;
4) Environmental management with an efficient wastewater treatment system along with sustainable water management according to the 4Rs – resource, reduce, reuse, recycle – principle and proper waste segregation within the factory;
5) Reforestation to expand green areas to continuously absorb carbon dioxide, and
6) Initiating the Oasis project to build a large agricultural reservoir as well as carbon credit offsetting for the entire Mitr Phol Group.