Sustainable Development Goals
Project Status:
Completed | Operating Since 2018
Organizations Involved:
VA Energy, Owl Energy, Thailand Board of Investment, a local oil refinery, and several plastic recyclers
Services:
Due Diligence, Supply Chain Management, Component Supply, Operator Training
The Challenge:
Despite ongoing efforts in South East Asia as a whole, in Thailand, plastic waste leaking into the marine environment remains a significant problem. In 2019, the Government of Thailand released the Roadmap for Plastic Waste Management 2018-2030 and is developing the National Action Plan on Marine Plastic Debris to alleviate the current impacts and avert future damage caused by marine plastic debris. While these efforts are critical steps toward controlling the country’s plastic pollution problem, further insight is needed into where the plastic waste comes from and how it moves in the environment. According to a recent study and report completed by The World Bank called the Plastic Waste Material Flow Analysis for Thailand: Summary Report, the resulting data underpins the finding and outlines the sheer volume of the problem.
Despite a high municipal solid waste collection and recycling rate of 88.8% in Thailand, remaining uncollected plastic waste and many unsanitary disposal facilities result in an estimated 428 kton/year of mismanaged plastic waste. Most mismanaged plastic waste available for wash-off to rivers and the marine environment (defined as ‘exposed mismanaged plastic waste’) is generated in rural areas (70.1%) with lower collection rates and most disposal facilities. Bangkok contributes 18.4% of exposed mismanaged plastic waste due to the large overall volumes of waste generated and uncollected. Many uncollected waste in the Chao Phraya catchment is disposed of directly into waterways.
Ten districts (of 247 in total) account for 51.7% of the total exposed mismanaged plastic waste in the high-priority catchments. These are all situated in or near Bangkok and are relatively close to the marine environment. Across four high-priority catchments (excluding Mae Klong), on average, 47.6% of mismanaged waste in the rivers is discharged into the aquatic environment. An annual average of 9.3 kton/year of plastic waste is discharged into the marine environment from four high-priority catchments (see figure below; numbers exclude Mae Klong).
This is equivalent to a marine plastic footprint of 0.4 kg/capita/year. During stormy years this may increase to 14.3 kton/year, while it may be as low as 4.9 kton/year in drier years. In tourist hotspots, it is estimated a total of 16.8 kton/year of mismanaged plastic waste is generated, with the source varying across the tourist hotspots. According to the report linked above, there is an estimated 0.7 kton/year of exposed mismanaged plastic waste, which is leaked into the environment primarily from unsanitary disposal facilities in cities and from uncollected waste in the more rural areas. The lack of reliable hydrological data in the tourist hotspots resulted in unreliable results for the transport of exposed mismanaged plastic waste to the marine environment.
This situation is out of control. Additional insight into the sources and pathways of plastic waste in the environment is needed to target policies and investments to create positive change if there is any hope for the circular economy to flourish in Thailand.
The Solution:
In 2015, VA Energy, a private limited company, was established in Thailand. The company was incorporated by three young, dynamic, and visionary businessmen ready to take on the waste plastic crisis facing Thailand. The company was also registered under BOI (Board of Investments in Thailand) and acquired an Oil Refinery and Processing License from the Government of Thailand. The Company has also obtained all the necessary clearances and certificates to operate the business in Thailand.
With all the necessary permits, VA Energy became one of a kind, listed as Thailand's 1st Independent Oil Producer (IOP) that used waste plastic as the raw material and produced high-quality industry-grade pyrolytic oil. The first oil production facility was installed and commissioned in the Banga-phli area outside Bangkok, Thailand, in Feb 2018. As a result, the company continues to look at the possibility of expanding its business horizons by partnering with key industrial players in Thailand and other Southeast Asian Countries.
The aim was to set up a pilot plant that featured state-of-the-art plastic pyrolysis equipment, where plastic waste is converted into oil. This pilot project holds significant potential to contribute to Thailand's circular economy. This facility was a batch process that a Korean company designed. However, the project did experience technical challenges with operation performance, problems which we later fixed due to continued engineering. Feedstock quality was also a challenge initially, but it was later sorted out with the feedstock suppliers, and quality assurance measures were implemented. Additionally, due to the nature of batch pyrolysis processing, a rigorous maintenance program was implemented due to continued plant fouling. As a result of significant process improvements and continued operation improvements, VA Energy sold this pilot facility as an R&D pilot to continue research into plastic-to-fuel applications.
The company is now in the process of developing a significantly larger project, which will use commercial-grade equipment more suitable for extended continuous operation and the production of higher-quality outputs.
The Outcome:
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