March 13, 2001
Cash for trash For Pornchai Pinyo, the recycling bank is not just a warehouse for useless junk but rather a source of pocket money. Old newspapers, empty bottles and cans, used containers-some might think these items belong in the trash bin, but some children have been taking them to the bank-and cashing in Story By Ukrit Kungsawanich Pictures by SOMKID CHAIJITVANIT In the wee hours of a Saturday morning, Pornchai Pinyo should be sleeping like other 11-year-old boys. Instead, he is up and busily working in the kitchen. Not to prepare breakfast for his parents or to mop the tiled floor, but rather to separate trash into piles: empty plastic shampoo containers, beverage cans, alcohol bottles, daily newspapers. He carefully puts each item into the proper bag before sealing the bags tightly. He's been recycling trash from around his home and community for the past several months, and for good reason: money earned from the effort has provided new stationery items for his school, even a pair of fancy sneakers. How? At the Wat Klang community in Lat Phrao Soi 132, there is a recycling bank where household garbage can be traded for real bucks. Trash for cash, in fact, isn't a newfangled idea-it has been done in many places. The community's recycling bank, however, has much more enticing rewards than just occasional loose change. "Most account holders at the recycling bank are children who live in the community," said the bank's founder Suppachai Teerattanachavalit. "We don't pay 'interest' in the form of money, but rather in the form of stationery items like pencil boxes or crayons for schools." Peeranuth: Working hard to keep the community spotless, she knows that children's participation in waste management is crucial. His wife, Peeranuth, head of the Wat Klang community, said there were also prizes for children who sort the trash properly. "We can't mix different kinds of trash into one pile, since the price per kilogramme varies for different materials. The recycling plant will offer a better price for junk sorted into categories," she explained. Young children especially, they say, must realise the environmental and health consequences that arise from careless trash disposal. The idea of the recycling bank came to Suppachai two years ago when he visited the Wat Phun Pee school in Phitsanulok. Wondering why the school was so clean, he found the answer when he walked into the school's recycling bank with its mountains of usable junk ready to be transported to a factory-there are many factories, he was to learn, that could make use of the various items. That visit, and a speech given by His Majesty the King on the importance of effective waste management and recycling, prompted him to act. Suppachai returned to his community and launched the recycling bank project. "When I came back to my house, I looked around at the trash on the side of the road and the overflowing rusty old bins and thought to myself, 'I have to do something."' For the last few years, Bangkok has been swamped with slimy, malodorous rubbish thanks to the demise of recycling policies and the fact that many dump sites were full. Suppachai: Even though the recycling bank is on the verge of collapse, he continues to hope that urban waste can be more sensibly managed. In response to this stinking problem, Suppachai and Peeranuth decided they had to begin at home. "We don't encourage children to go scavenging for reusable objects in trash cans or dump sites, for sanitary reasons. We tell them to collect used containers from home," said Suppachai. In addition to irritation caused by the pungent smell and the very real possibility of an outbreak of cholera, typhoid or some other deadly disease, careless waste management dumps yet another burden on Thailand's already-crippled economy. "The recycling bank is there, not only to teach children how to save money, but also to help them become aware of how serious the situation of waste management is," said Peeranuth. Pariyaphat Nontabuth, a Prathom 6 student, agreed that lately her neighbourhood was looking cleaner than before. "The amount of trash at my house has been reduced by half. Better still, I also earn pocket money by taking recyclable materials to the bank." Despite his good intentions to improve the community, Suppachai's project has received many nasty comments from the public. Some community members have accused the recycling bank of being a profit-driven project which aims to exploit children. "They said we were cheating children by giving a price-per-kilogramme for recycled trash which was lower than what the market offered," said Suppachai. Though some call it a scam, the founder turns a deaf ear to these wagging tongues because the intention wasn't to make a profit but to help the community. While it was true that they give children a couple baht less than the market price, the difference was made up in transportation costs which could be quite expensive. "After expenses from transporting the rubbish from our bank to the recycling centre, the rest of the money goes into a community fund for organising various events. All the money eventually goes back to the people here," Peeranuth claimed. In January, the group arranged recreational activities on Children's Day with money earned from recycling. One future project is to offer health services and lectures for elderly people in the community. Moreover, the funds are used for those in need-among them, drug-addicted teenagers. Methamphetamines, also known as ya ba, has become an upsetting issue in many low income areas in Bangkok, and for the Wat Klang community, ya ba has been a never-ending battle. Last month, in a hasty police raid on one apartment in the community, the police arrested drug dealers with lots of pills hidden inside their apartment. On the next day, the story was all over the front page of a leading newspaper, and Lad Phrao Soi 132 was instantly made notorious. Abashed by the news, Peeranuth said problems were inevitable because the tenants of many apartments in the area were outsiders, who were inconsiderate and greedy. "They bring drugs and sell them to the teenagers here. Their business is illegal and works against our efforts to establish a drug-free community. Many times we have paid for addicted teenagers here to attend rehabilitation centres." The bank also has a low-interest loan programme with money received from donors like the Panee Yipintsoi Foundation and other donors for those wanting to start up a small business. The bank doesn't ask the loan recipients to repay in cash, but rather with recyclable trash. Though it might seem the bank is doing fine, they recently ran into a brick wall: the recycling centre of the Bang Kapi district, where all the recycled materials are stored, packed and shipped to factories, ran into financial difficulties. The Bang Kapi recycling centre is a joint effort of five communities with support from the Social Investment Fund which aims to create eco-friendly communities and cope with the shortage of disposal sites. After all the cans, papers and bottles are packed at the centre, these reusable products are delivered to many factories as materials. The factories have set minimum amounts for each supplier and if the amounts are not met, the factories lower the pay. "Even with all our efforts, our recycling centre is still short of garbage to feed the factories. The centre lost quite a lot of money, and if the struggle continues, it will have to be closed down," Supachai said. To make matters worse, market prices for recyclable products have recently plunged since raw materials are cheaper than recycled materials. "We put a lot of money into the recycling centre and we don't have enough money to compete with other large suppliers. Also, the cost of transportation directly to the factories is too much to handle." Will the recycling bank rebound and prevail in the rubbish war? With no guarantee of success, the community continues to fight and is optimistic. No matter the outcome, a hopeful Suppachai promises to fight to keep the bank alive. "My dream is that every community will have its own recycling bank. I would be glad to make this recycling bank a study centre for others who are interested. Urban waste can be reduced if all of us begin to care." Info for donations: - Name of organisation: Wat Klang Community's Recycling Bank Fund - Address: 144/2 Lat Phrao Soi 132, Khlong Jun, Bang Kapi, Bangkok, 10240 - Contact persons: Suppachai and Peeranuth Teerattanachavalit - Telephone: 377- 4846 - Bank's name: DBS Thai Danu Bank, Lat Phrao Soi 136 branch - Account number: 072-3-005220-4 - Account type: savings account "We care" is a fortnightly series honouring people who believe in giving. In addition to supporting these causes, you can let us know about people who unselfishly help others so we can make more people aware of their efforts. Fax "We care" on 240-3668 or call 240-3700 ext 3208 or 3212. Email can be sent to sanitsuda@bangkokpost.net. For a comprehensive list of charities covered by Outlook's "We Care" series, see the Bangkok Post Web site at www.bangkokpost.net/outlookwecare.		Daily Main Entrance Page Local News Business Outlook Weekly IT news Horizons Travel NiteOwl (Trink) Real.Time Motoring Student Weekly Entertainment & Lifestyle NEW!Breakfast in Bangkok Holidays online What's on Dining out Recipe of the week Movies Music Book Review Beauty Fitness Nutrition NEW! Prominent Businesses Travel Thailand & beyond Special Publications Current Issues in Thailand Silpa Thai site 2000 Mid-year Economic Review Post Database 10 years Annual Report 1999 Education Learn English with the Bangkok Post Society We Care Phudhong Leper Colony Foundation Bangkok Post Newspaper Foundation Past Issues Calendar Page for recent issues Bangkok Post Complete Archives Classifieds Classifieds index Jobs Property Entertainment Investment Education Travel Sales Bookstore Post Books Company Services Contact Us Subscriptions Internet Advertising Classified Ads Allied Printers
© Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 2001 Last Modified: Tue, Mar 13, 2001 For comments and letters to the editor see : notes Privacy Policy Comments to: Webmaster Advertising enquiries to Internet Marketing