environment paying the price

Most manufacturers are opting for cheap options to deal with their industrial waste without realising the risks they are posing to the environment, say operators in the waste-management industry.

In Thailand, the landfill system is the most popular means of disposal, because its service charge is not high, at Bt1,000 per tonne of industrial waste, said Suwat Luengviriya, managing director of waste-management firm Better World Green.

Industrial incinerators are another waste-disposal method that can control air pollution to limit emissions of ash, acid, dioxins and heavy metals, but it costs much more than using the landfill system, he said.

However, cheap options are better than not dealing with waste at all, Suwat said, estimating less than 50 per cent of industrial waste was properly disposed of, because most manufacturers opted to dump waste in their own landfills or burn it in their own incinerators.

"In the view of most manufacturers, waste management is just another cost to bear," he said. "When they look at it this way, they are not inclined to pay for waste disposal, or they opt to use poor-quality services. The economic recession is another factor leading manufacturers to try to save money [on disposal]," he said.

At present, Thailand produces 15 million tonnes of industrial waste a year, but a maximum of 400,000 tonnes is disposed of through waste-management service providers. The rest goes through sub-standard companies.

"This has become a problem in Thailand, because manufacturers lack social responsibility," Suwat said.

Suwit Chantawibul, managing director of Siam Waste Management Consultant, another industrial waste-management provider, said waste

management was the responsibility of manufacturers but that few manufacturers saw it that way.

He said most viewed it as an unessential cost.

Industrial law is too weak to force manufacturers to take responsibility, he said, adding that the situation of industrial waste disposal at present was not much different from wastewater release.

 Suwit said the volume of industrial waste this year had declined in line with the economic slowdown. Further, economic volatility has led manufacturers to reduce spending on waste treatment.

He said waste-management providers were facing a tough time, trying to hold onto existing customers while seeking new ones even as some clients considered ways to cut industrial waste-treatment costs.

Siam Waste plans to talk with manufacturers outside industrial estates and firms that export products.

"Most clients of Siam Waste are located in industrial estates. Some firms that export products may want to raise their standards, in order to create advantages in negotiations with international markets," he said.

Suwit said the company would see declines in sales this year in line with the economic slowdown.

Both Suwat and Suwit said competition in the sector was rising. Many small players have entered the market, quoting prices as low as Bt100 per tonne. These services cater mainly to small manufacturers who are not overly concerned about disposal quality, they said.

The situation has prompted Better Green to seek new business lines to boost its revenue.

Suwat said his company would focus more on community waste treatment. Disposal of community waste is easier than that for industrial waste, because it is generally not hazardous. Moreover, communities seem more concerned about the increasing levels waste than do manufacturers, who think only about the cost, he said.

The company recently won a landfill-management contract for Nakhon Ratchasima municipality.

"If you think this is about the cost, we have nothing to say about it. But if they want to show responsibility, industrial waste management in Thailand will improve [as a result of the contract]," Suwat said.

"As a provider, my words carry small weight. This is a matter of national agreement."