To sort out Thailand’s mounting trash drawback, one firm is popping to the nation’s flowers.
Common Biopack makes packaging that it sells to eating places and producers. However somewhat than plastic, it makes use of a mix of bamboo and cassava, crops which might be broadly discovered throughout the nation.
After rising quickly in latest many years, Thailand has change into certainly one of Asia’s largest economies. However like many different nations within the area, it has been gradual to attempt to fight the hundreds of thousands of tons of trash produced annually.
“Waste administration is an enormous drawback all over the place,” mentioned Common Biopack’s managing director, Vara-Anong Vichakyothin.
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The corporate is utilizing a know-how devised at a Bangkok college to make its zero-waste packaging. It hopes it would finally substitute most of the Styrofoam packing containers and plastic baggage that find yourself in enormous rubbish dumps throughout Thailand and different Southeast Asian nations.
Its eco-friendly system took 5 years to develop and is so adaptable it may find yourself getting used to bundle issues like furnishings and even telephones. The bamboo it makes use of comes from leftover scraps from the chopstick manufacturing course of.
Within the cities of Bangkok and Chiang Mai, the place takeout drink containers and noodle packets line the sidewalks, the corporate provides eating places, natural farmers and different companies within the foods and drinks trade.
However discovering new shoppers could be tough.
Takeout meals distributors in Thailand need to hold prices down in a aggressive enterprise with skinny margins. Asking them to spend extra on packaging for environmental causes is a tricky promote.
“The native economic system nonetheless doesn’t help [this technology]” mentioned Common Biopack’s founder, Suthep Vichakyothin.
However that hasn’t stopping different corporations from getting into the sustainable packaging market in Thailand. Like Common Biopack, they’re betting on rising environmental consciousness finally resulting in a rise in demand.
To change into extra aggressive, Suthep’s firm is investing. It is aiming to ramp up manufacturing by constructing {a partially} automated meeting line at its manufacturing unit close to Bangkok and doubling its staffing from 50 folks to 100.
The purpose is to extend month-to-month capability from 300,000 items to 1 million.
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Loads of the demand comes from abroad. One in every of its prospects makes use of the pure packaging for coconut water it exports.
Common Biopack says it is also getting curiosity in its merchandise from different nations, significantly in Scandinavia.
CNNMoney (Hong Kong) First revealed February 12, 2017: 9:08 PM ET
