To tackle Thailand’s growing garbage problem, one company is turning to Thai plants.
Universal Biopack manufactures the packages they sell to restaurants and manufacturers. Instead of plastic, however, it uses a mixture of bamboo and cassava, a crop commonly found throughout the country.
After rapid growth in recent decades, Thailand has become one of Asia’s largest economies. However, like many other countries in the region, efforts to combat the millions of tons of garbage generated each year are lagging behind.
“Waste management is a big issue everywhere,” said Vara-Anong Vichakyothin, Managing Director of Universal Biopack.
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The company uses technology devised at a university in Bangkok to create zero-waste packaging. Ultimately, we hope that many of the styrofoam boxes and plastic bags that become giant dumps in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries will eventually be replaced.
Its eco-friendly formula took five years to develop and is so adaptable that it could end up being used in packaging such as furniture and phones. The bamboo we use is the offcuts from the chopstick manufacturing process.
In the cities of Bangkok and Chiang Mai, where to-go beverage containers and noodles line the sidewalks, the company supplies restaurants, organic farmers and other companies in the food and beverage industry.
But finding new clients can be difficult.
A takeaway food vendor in Thailand wants to keep costs down in a competitive business with low margins. Asking them to spend more on packaging for environmental reasons is a tough sell.
“The local economy still does not support [this technology]said Suthep Vichakyothin, founder of Universal Biopack.
But that hasn’t stopped other companies from entering Thailand’s sustainable packaging market: like Universal Biopack, they’re betting that rising environmental awareness will ultimately lead to increased demand. .
To increase its competitiveness, Stape’s company is making investments. He aims to scale up production by building a partially automated assembly line at a factory near Bangkok and doubling the staff from his 50 to his 100.
The goal is to increase the monthly production capacity from 300,000 units to 1 million units.
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There is also a lot of demand from overseas. One of her customers uses natural packaging for the coconut water she exports.
Universal Biopack says there is also interest in its products from other countries, particularly Scandinavia.
CNNMoney (Hong Kong) First published February 12, 2017 at 9:08 PM ET
