Thai football goes 'green' with fans urged to recycle old phones at stadiums
All 16 Thai League 1 football clubs have joined the battle to reduce Thailand’s daily mountain of electronic waste from broken computers, phones and other gadgets.
Football fans can drop their e-waste at any Premier League stadium nationwide until May 31, under a scheme run by mobile operator AIS and Waste Management Siam (WMS). If they can’t make it to a stadium, fans can simply pop their old gadgets into a box, write the name of their favourite football team on top, and drop it off at the nearest post office.
The disposal points have been set up at stadiums nationwide as part of a drive to recycle e-waste, AIS said. Silver and gold from the discarded gadgets will be recycled into commemorative e-waste medals to hand out to the football clubs in recognition of their environmental efforts.
The scheme would kick-off Thai football’s push to go green with cooperation from fans and communities, AIS added.
Thai League acting chairman Korrawee Prissananantakul said the efforts would help the Thai League meet international standards while also creating environmental awareness among football clubs, players and fans.
"We are ready to expand this initiative to other aspects of the Thai league, so the competition can maintain sustainability as it grows," he said.
WMS executive director Hiromitsu Takagi confirmed that materials from the e-waste collected would be recycled into medals at DOWA Metals & Mining in Japan.
