Twenty years ago, Thailand entered a new era in waste management by launching a project to turn agricultural refuse into a new source of renewable energy.
Wastes from sugar fibre, rice husks and wood scraps -- abandoned in landfills and creating a stench for nearby communities -- started being used in other sectors to generate more value.
That helped usher in a new era, with Thailand becoming a significant developer of renewable energy in Asia.
Today, there is a new bioeconomic product marking the next step forward: food packaging made from agricultural fibres.
Biodegradable Packaging for Environment Co (BPE) is among the small number of companies currently at the forefront of producing eco-friendly food containers with its GracZ brand, which serves as a replacement for the foam food containers that are so popular among Thai stallholders but environmentally deleterious.
"Turning agricultural waste into food packaging boosts the value of that waste ten-fold -- probably even higher than for renewable power," says Dr Weerachat Kittirattanapaiboon, the chief executive of BPE who also owns the production patent for food packaging from sugarcane fibre.
While foam can take centuries to break down and produces carcinogenic substances when heated by the food it carries, biodegradable food packaging decomposes naturally and produces none of those toxic substances, he says.
Five years ago, Dr Weerachat began seriously pushing the company's biodegradable product. Despite his warnings against the toxicity of foam, the campaign fell on deaf ears, not least because the price of BPE's GracZ packaging was much higher than that of foam food containers
By contrast, the business did well in developed countries, where people are generally more environmentally aware, health-conscious and able to afford biodegradable products. Some states have even banned foam food containers or levy high taxes on producers, providing a need for BPE's offerings.
As a result, today BPE earns 70% of its total annual revenue from exports to developed countries.
But the company is now turning its focus onto the domestic market and Asean.
In order to entice Thais to give up foam for something safer, Dr Weerachat has sought out ways to cut production costs for biodegrable food packaging. In the end, his hard work and perseverance paid off.
In 2014, BPE managed to cut the cost of its biodegradable packaging from an average of three baht a piece to two. The company, in part, cut production costs through economies of scale -- producing up to 2.5 million pieces a day, up from 1.5 million.
The lower costs, which meant lower selling prices, have encouraged many food vendors to switch from foam to GracZ. That has happened without any tax subsidies from the government to promote the use of bioproducts.
Last year, the Bureau of the Royal Household placed orders for BPE's sugarcane fibre-made containers to be used for food given to Thais paying homage to the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died on Oct 13.
Demand for the BPE's packaging during the homage period, which ran until the end of last year, created additional demand of 400,000 pieces a day, which pushed the company's plant in Chainat province to run at full capacity.
It also helped make the GracZ brand better known among Thai consumers, who are becoming increasingly aware of environmental issues and the effects of consumption habits on their health.
Dr Weerachat says his company plans to start promoting the biodegradable packages in Thailand and Asean under the GracZ label, as well as serve as an original equipment manufacturer for several brands, such as Studio, Walmart and Lidl Stiftung & Co.
The first stage of expansion entails increasing production capacity at the Chai Nat plant with an investment budget of 500 million baht. The higher capacity is due to kick into gear by the end of this year, he says.
The second stage is to develop human resources to manage the company's operations and marketing efforts, particularly through social media channels.
Dr Weerachat says BPE expects that total sales could reach 1 billion pieces this year, double last year's, as the brand continues to gain traction among consumers.
The company will set aside 2% of total revenue for research and development, up from 1% in the previous year, in order to seek ways to increase efficiency and cut costs further.
"We hope to cut costs down to one baht per container," he says.
The company has also conducted lab trials to produce biodegradable products from other natural fibres such as corn, palm oil, bamboo and water hyacinth. Products from those fibre types have already been produced as prototypes and are in the process of being commercialised.
If business expansion goes according to plan, BPE aims to list on the Stock Exchange of Thailand by 2020. The company had previously sought to be listed by 2016.
Dr Weerachat says demand for food packaging in Thailand was worth about 50 billion baht last year, with GracZ accounting for a 1-billion-baht slice of that pie.
With rising demand, he says BPE plans to ready more land for capacity expansion. The company is hoping to double production to 5 million pieces a day as soon as possible.
"We hope that one day people will become more concerned about their health and the environment, entirely abandoning foam in the process," says Dr Weerachat.
Eco-friendly biodegradable food packaging, GracZ brand, serves as a replacement for the foam food containers.PATTANAPONG HIRUNARD