| Author | Paveena Thepkunhanimitta |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.UE-97-12 |
| Subject(s) | Recycling(Waste, etc.)--Thailand--Bangkok
|
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has a policy of an "integrated
approach for recycling" that intends to minimize waste production and maximize waste
recycling. This bears the potential of reducing the volume of garbage that eventually has to be
dumped in increasingly scarce landfills or burned in costly incinerators.
In Prawate district- the area of this study, there are two systems in waste recycling: one
is formal and the other is informal. Waste collection is a duty of the municipal waste collectors
(formal) who separate wastes and sell them to the junk shops. The other is done by the
informal sector (i.e. street ragpickers and dump site ragpickers) play an important role in waste
separation. Waste recycling and reprocessing is almost entirely in the hands of junk shops
(buyer of wastes), street ragpickers, dump site ragpickers, and collection crews who together
make up a complex network involved in collecting, sorting, reprocessing and distributing
waste materials to the manufacturers who use them as raw material.
Households are central in all this as waste generator as source of domestic waste-the
focus of this study. This study identified the need of public awareness towards recyclables in
households and the link of the collector (formal as well as informal) to pass the recycled
wastes to the recycling shops (both formal and informal) and to the intermediaries i.e.
wholesalers (mostly formal). The latter then deals with the manufacturing (formal sector) units
located in the outskirts of Bangkok which use the recycled items as raw materials to cut
production costs. Materials reprocessed include glass, plastics, papers, aluminum, metals,
household appliances, etc. The extent and strength of this whole process depend on the
demand of these processed products.
This study proposed effective linkages between formal and informal sectors for better
recycling of waste in Prawate. The recommendations are made to improve the future policy
formulations linking both the sectors and to develop feasibility in of organized recovery
materials system in the future so that they can support each other and remain engaged in the
waste chain. |
| Year | 1998 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Urban Environmental and Management (UE) |
| Chairperson(s) | Amin, A.T.M. Nurul; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Zimmermann, Willi; Darunee Tantiwiramanond; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Asian Institute of Technology Partial Scholarship; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1998 |