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Wongpanit: a successful waste recycling business in Phitsanulok, Thailand

Article by Nongnut Foppes- Ayamuang RISE-AT, May 2000

1 The need for waste recycling in Thailand


Rapid urbanization and industrialization in many societies have resulted in changing of human livelihoods. More material wealth also brings more waste, which causes problems of water pollution, air pollution and solid waste. Nowadays, solid wastes created by human activities are one of the most serious problems for our environment. The increasing amount of solid waste from cities is a big problem in developing countries. Local residents of big cities in Thailand are suffering from the increase of solid waste and the lack of proper disposal methods. Municipalities are trying various approaches to deal with waste. One of the most promising approaches is integrated waste management, where local people participate in waste separation at the household level. Recycling can save energy and provide cheap base materials for industry. Recycling also means less waste has to be disposed in landfills, so landfills can be used longer and more efficiently. So far, integrated waste management has only been applied in a few places because it is still unknown. The main bottleneck is not technical, but rather organizational, as many stakeholders need to cooperate.

2 The role of the private sector in waste recycling


Waste dealing business by in Thailand already exists for decades. A Chinese immigrant, who roamed the street using pushcart or a tricycle collecting the used materials, would be known as Saleng. Poor Thai people from remote rural areas would exchange their local products with used clothes in the town etc. Waste dealing job has been generally considered as a very dirty, low status work. However, private sector like recyclable wastes dealer could play an important role in waste management in Thailand. In many countries in developing world, such local waste collectors or scavengers are actively recycling waste in an efficient manner. There is still not enough recognition of the positive economic effects derived from direct recycling by the informal sector.

Economic motivation can provide the necessary incentive for people to adopt the reuse and recycling of waste. A good example of the potential role of the private sector can be found in Phitsanulok, Thailand, where a private company is making an impact on the recycling of city waste.

3 The example of Wongpanit Co. in Phitsanulok


Somthai Wongcharoen, is a 42 years old successful businessman in Phitsanulok. Mr. Somthai deals with recyclable waste. He started his business 26 years ago, roaming around with a small pick up car to collect recyclable wastes as one of many small waste buyers. He bought recyclable materials or exchanged with children for candies. Nowadays he owns a business of waste recycling with an estimated worth of hundreds of million Baht. The Wongpanit Company buys waste from local residents and sells recyclable materials to recycling factories in Thailand, Burma, China, Singapore and England. The Wongpanit Company is very well known in Phitsanulok and surroundings. Many interested people, representatives from the solid waste sector of Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA) and Minister of Science and Environment have been visiting this company to learn how to develop a successful recyclable waste business.

3.1 Marketing Strategy


Wongpanit Company has 6 branches located at almost every major street junction of Phitsanulok, a provincial capital with 120,000 inhabitants. A leaflet with a list of prices is distributed very month to local people at the main entrance of big department stores such as LOTUS, BIG C and MACRO. These three majors wholesale and retail shops serve the residents of Phitsanulok and three surrounding provinces. Thai people love to go shopping in a big department store, and they like to go as often as possible. These three big department stores receive at least 2,500 families a day, especially on the weekend. The Wongpanit Company uses this opportunity to distribute their leaflets to inform and educate people about the unexpected value of their waste. The results have been spectacular. People dont feel that waste dealing job is a shame for them any more and they are eager to sort waste at home to sell to the Wongpanit Company. Recyclable wastes rejected by most people before, are now considered as black gold by many people. When we visited the Wongpanit Company in April 2000, we could see many groups of people who came to sell recyclable materials. They came in all sorts of vehicles: tricycles, tuk-tuks, pickup trucks, waste collection trucks and expensive saloon cars.

3.2 The supportive role of the municipal authorities


The Phitsanulok municipality provides two types of waste collection: door to door and roadside waste collection. The most common system is the roadside collection system, where the municipality provides groups of residents with a communal waste bin along the roadside. Resident families do the first separation of waste and keep the most valuable parts, which they can sell, to small waste dealers or to the Wongpanit Company. The remainder is dropped at the communal street bin. Street scavengers are allowed to sort out recyclable materials to sell to small waste buyers or itinerant waste buyers. The municipality also provides these groups with training on how to take care of themselves when dealing with waste. The municipality award certificates to the itinerant waste buyer groups who are recognized as caretakers of environment. The municipal waste collection crews pick up the waste bins by truck in most areas only once a day, in some areas every second day and in major roads in the center of the city two times per day. The municipal waste collection crews sort the waste a third time and often stop at the Wongpanit Company and drop recyclable materials on their way to the dumpsite. The municipality allows its waste collection crews to sort out sellable waste to increase their income. The Wongpanit Company has allocated a separate site, reserved for municipal waste collection crews to drop their recyclable waste quickly so the crew can conduct their main task effectively. At the municipal sanitary landfill site, 38 km out of town, poor resident scavengers collect the remaining recyclable materials. The municipality supports these private scavengers with a basic health care/vaccination program and provides them with protective clothing such as gloves, boots and masks. In short, waste separation occurs at four levels: 1. by households, for selling to Wongpanit Company or small waste buyers; 2. by street scavengers, who sell mainly to small waste buyers; 3. by the municipal collection crew, who sell mainly to Wongpanit Company; 4. by resident scavengers at the landfill, who sell to small waste buyers. It is estimated that the generated waste in Phitsanulok is about 140 ton/day (1.1 kg/capita) and 80 ton of solid waste are collected daily and brought to the sanitary landfill site. Therefore, it is estimated that in the city 60-70 ton of recyclable materials are generated and sorted out by residents. The efficiency of the recycling sector can be seen from the fact that almost 90 % of the materials, which are presently accepted for recycling are taken out before disposal. The remaining 10 % of recyclable materials are sorted by scavengers or disposed at the sanitary landfill

The Municipality is satisfied with waste separation at source for recyclable materials adopted by residents. The results have shown that the amount of waste disposed at landfill site has reduced to be almost 50 %. Such a competitive waste segregation system could evolve because there is such a good market for recyclable materials. The private sector, consisting of the Wongpanit Company and smaller waste dealers, provide this market incentive and ensure a good price. The municipality supports this private sector activity, because it improves environmental awareness among citizens and it minimizes the stream of waste.

3.3 Quantity of recycled waste


The recyclable materials for Phitsanulok at arrived at land fill site and after sorting out by The Wongpanit Company buys about 70-100 tons of recyclable waste per day, which is equivalent to 250,000-350,000 Baht per day. Those recyclable materials come from Phitsanulok town or province and also from other provinces such as Uttaradit and Sukhothai. We were told that the business grows slowly but firmly with a rate of 10 % a year. The other, smaller waste dealers supposedly buy all together at least 20 - 30t/day, most likely even more. This would mean that those small waste dealers are responsible for the handling of about 30% - 40% of recyclable materials.

3.4 Working conditions and working man force


At the moment the Wongpanit Company employs about 100 workers which 30 permanent workers and about 70 temporary workers, hired on a daily basis. The workers are provided with food three times per day, lodging, protective clothing and basic medical care. They are trained to take precaution for safely working environment. Special security guards are looking after the overall security management in the plants.

3.5 Quality control and Price listing system


The company emphasizes on the accuracy, equity and safety of its management. The recyclable materials are placed orderly in to groups. Computerized weighing scales can measure materials up to 50 ton. The client can see the weight of their sold materials immediately. For high price smaller items such as copper and bronze, finer scales will be used to get a better accuracy. The prices given by Wongpanit are formulated on the basis of key factors such as the buying price at recycling plants, transport costs, labor costs and a fixed company profit margin. The prices listed of recyclable materials by Wongpanit are subject to change due to transport cost and given price at recycling plants. Announcement of the given

price is made on the flyer and distributed clearly to the residents on monthly basis. (see example below).
Monthly price list of Wongpanit Company, February 2000. product Price product Paper Iron scraps Bottles-broken glass 3-4 baht/kg 2-3 baht/kg 1-2 baht/kg Plastic Other metals Coconut residues price 3-10 baht/kg 20-45 baht/kg 5-9 baht/kg

4 Types of waste bought by Wongpanit Group


Recyclable wastes bought by WP are divided in to 5 groups: Paper Plastics Glass Others Metal scraps

4.1 Paper
After cardboard and paper of very inferior quality only is collected at the central plant, it will be pressed with a hydraulic engine to obtain a block of 1 ton. The other paper, e.g. white writing paper is sorted manually and put in bundles. These blocks and bundles are then transported in 20 ton trucks and sold to a paper recycling plant at Siam Craft factory (Siam Cement group) in Kanchanaburi province.
Table of recyclable recyclable Card board Old newspaper Book/paper scraps Printed paper and non-recyclable paper materials (Wongpanit Co.) Non-recyclable Plastic coated paper or laminated paper i.e. present wrap , tetra pack Paper contaminated with engine oil Paper made from rice straws i.e. apple boxes from China

4.2 Glass
There are two types of glass bought at Wongpanit: bottles and broken glass. Most of unbroken bottles will be sent back to its original manufacturer to be cleaned and reused again i.e. the beer bottles, fish sauce bottles, coke one-way bottles etc. The broken glass is divided into three fractions: 1) clear glass, 2) brown glass and 3) green glass. These fractions will be sent off to the glass recycling plant at Bangkok Glass factory in Pathumthani province.

4.3 Metal scraps


Three types of metal scraps bought by Wongpanit are iron, aluminum, and others i.e. bronze, copper stainless steel. Bronze and copper have a high value and can be exported to Singapore and England. Iron scraps must be cut with length according to processing factory requirements. However, there are some components, which must be excluded in this type of recyclable wastes, e.g. shock absorbers, pressure containers, gas container, ignitable substances, bullets, dynamite and scraps from car tires. Such items can cause serious explosion during smelting. The plant that processes those iron scraps in Thailand is Siam iron, Thalan, Saraburi (Saim cement group). Aluminum is separated into two types: thick aluminum, e.g. automobile spare parts, and thin aluminum e.g. cooking pots, washing tubs. Aluminum will be pressed into 4050 kilogram block before being transported to the recycling plant.

4.4 Plastics
There are many types of plastic that can be recycled. The most common ones collected by the Wongpanit Company are; Polypropylene (PP), Polystylene (PS), Polyetheylene (PE) and Polyvinylchloride (PVC). After plastics are collected, they will be sort into each of these four groups. In each group they are then sorted into different colors. Contaminants e.g. aluminum foils must be removed. The plastic is then crushed, washed, dried, packed and sent to a plastic recycling plant in Samut Prakarn province. Some types of plastic are not recycled in Thailand, e.g. PVC, because the quality of the recycled material is lower than the original. PVC plastic scraps are exported to Burma, where there is a market for the lower quality product. Polyethylene plastic (PET), e.g. from containers of cooking oil and some type of drinking water bottles, are packed with a hydraulic compactor and exported to China for making, elastic fibers and textile fibers.

4.5 Others
Other recyclable waste products collected by Wongpanit Company are: coconut shell and coconut residues used for oil extraction old mattresses stuffed with kapok, kapok can be used for doll stuffing or mixing with virgin kapok to make new mattress. used car batteries will sent to the processing plant for lead recovery. All these products have a market for recycling in Thailand.

5 Other activities initiated or supported by Wongpanit Group


5.1 Training workshops
Wongpanit Company organizes a 5 days intensive training workshops on how to start and success with the waste recycling business to be held at the head office. The course is available for 30 persons. Interested group can contact and make requirement for the course. The course will be conducted if number of participants is sufficient. The charge is about 2,500-3,000 bath a person per course. It covers materials used, food and lodging. Arrangement can be made through his company.

5.2 Waste banks


With initiative of municipality, the community of Ban Boromtrilokanart has started a waste bank project. The aim of this activity is to encourage residents in the community to separate their waste at home. The separated waste can be deposited at a collection site. The collection program takes place every Sunday. When the collection point is filled up with materials, Wongpanit Company comes to purchase and transport the materials from the collection site. The revenue from selling waste is given back to the members who are mostly the youth in the community. A primary school in Phitsanulok has also been carrying a waste bank project where school children bring recyclable materials from home and deposit them at a school collection point. The system of the school waste bank project is similar to the community waste bank, but the income earned from selling the products is divided into two parts. School children get 60 % of the income and the remaining 40 % are put into a school fund, used to support school activities. This type of waste collection projects educate young people to appreciate the value of recycling wastes, to take responsibility for a clean living environment and to use their spare time in a fruitful way.

6 Some problems remaining to be addressed


Mr. Somthai recognizes that some operational problems remain to be solved: The quality of treated wastewater from plastic cleaning and leachate does not always meet the requirements standard before released to public water bodies. Bad odors occurring during rainy season may cause disturbance to neighbors; Noise from operating the machines may also cause disturbance to neighbors. Mr. Somthai is trying very hard to solve theses problems and he is willing to do anything to improve the present situations. He is really looking forward to hearing some suggestions and willing to take action to improve the conditions of his business.

Dr Walter Scholl, principal adviser from GTZ sees a big problem in the handling of motor oil. There is a lot of oil spill, which can pollute groundwater

7 Outlook for future


This promising private sector business is a good example that should be promoted in other big cities in Thailand, like Chiang Mai, Korat, Hat Yai, Khon Kaen, etc. Close cooperation and mutual support of municipality and private sector are an essential condition to create these market-driven systems of urban waste recycling.

8 Contact addresses
Wongpanit Company (head office) 19/9 Moo 3 Tumbon Tharthong, PhitsanulokBangkrathum Road. Ampore Muang Phitsanulok 65000 , Thailand Tel +66 (055)284494, (055)231733 Fax +66 (55) 231734; Email wongpani@loxinfo.co.th City of Phisanulok municipality, Muang, Phitsanulok 65000, Thailand Tel +66 (055) 232301 Fax (055)232300; email Munici@ksc.th.com Dr. Walter Scholl, Solid Waste Management Program for Phitsanulok City of Phisanulok municipality, Muang, Phitsanulok 65000, Thailand Tel +66 (055) 232301 Fax (055)232300; email swmphit@psnulok.loxinfo.co.th RISE-AT (Regional Information Service Center for South East Asia on Appropriate Technology) P.O. Box 111 Chiang Mai University 50202 Thailand. Tel +6653 942459-60, Fax + 66 53 892189, email riseat@chmai.loxinfo.co.th

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