MAEL plant to turn waste into revenue
Mauritius-based Modern Asia Environmental Ltd (MAEL) expects revenue to climb 10 per cent this year thanks to the opening of its new plant in Bang Pu, Samut Prakan, the firm's president said yesterday.
The waste-services firm projects revenue of Bt220 million this year, up from Bt200 million in 2005, Edward A Corcoran said. Of the estimated revenue, Bt180 million will be generated by operations at MAEL's Eastern Seaboard plant in Chon Buri and the rest by its new plant in Bang Pu, which opened this year, Corcoran said. MAEL is a subsidiary of Modern Asia Environmental Holdings, established in Mauritius. It is supported by the Global Environment Fund and the Thai Recovery Fund. MAEL began operations in Thailand in 2000 with registered capital of Bt157 million. It set up its first subsidiary, Eastern Seaboard Environmental Complex, with registered capital of Bt100 million in the same year and launched waste-management services in Chon Buri province in 2002. The company established a second firm, Bangpoo Environmental Complex, with registered capital of Bt80 million last year. The firm was set up with investment of Bt1.1 billion. Of this, Bt800 million came from the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation of Japan (NEDO), which provided technology for free, and the remaining Bt300 million came from Waste Management Siam (WMS), a subsidiary of MAEL. Corcoran said the second plant in Bang Pu could process 100 tonnes of waste per day. It needs to process at least 70 tonnes daily to generate steam from the waste, at a rate of 17.6 tonnes of steam per hour. Bang Pu currently handles only 20 tonnes of waste per day, but Corcoran expects that to increase to 70 tonnes within nine months in order to start producing steam energy. He said MAEL expected the new plant to generate income of up to Bt200 million in the next year and to reach break even in five to seven years. The Bang Pu plant is a joint development effort by WMS, the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) and NEDO. Uthai Jantima, IEAT governor, said the agency had appointed WMS as the operator of the plant for 20 years. The project can service 500 factories in targeted industrial estates such as Bang Chan, Bang Phli, Bang Pu and Lat Krabang, as well as areas around Samut Prakan. Corcoran said he hoped all industries in Thailand would use MAEL's waste-disposal system, which meets both Thai and international standards. Greater use of the system will result in a decrease in the number of illegal open-dumping sites and protect the local environment, he said.
Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul The Nation
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