State-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) is teaming up with state and private agencies to study a business model for electronic waste management to better cope with the surge of hazardous rubbish in Thailand.
Electronic waste, including household electrical appliances, reached 400,000 tonnes last year and the numbers have increased rapidly over the past decade, said Yongyouth Srichai, director of Egat's Electronics Waste Management and Social Responsibility division.
The country needs a better disposal system for this type of waste, which has been poorly managed, he said. Some discarded electronic items are only sorted for recycling by the poor, while others that cannot be recycled are simply buried at landfills or burned in open air.
Egat is jointly conducting a study with the Electrical and Electronics Institute (EEI), Pollution Control Department and the Federation of Thai Industries in order to draft business and implementation plans, expected to set a model for electronic waste management in Thailand.
Mr Yongyouth said the study will take over a year, ending in November next year. The team also wants to compare electronic waste disposal in different countries, including Taiwan, the US and those in the European Union.
He said these counties established a system to collect the garbage from households and take it to recycling plants and disposal facilities. The management is funded by money raised by levy collection from electronics makers.
"What we want to see in this study is steps to manage waste from households and workplaces that go to landfills or incinerators, finding a new business model that matches the circular economy," said Narat Rujirat, EEI's president. The team hopes to begin a pilot project by building a dump site in Nonthaburi or Buri Ram, he said.
In related news, Egat International's (EGATi) subsidiary -- Ratch Group -- joined a joint venture to develop a new coal-fired power plant, named Quang Tri 1 Thermal Power Plant, in Vietnam.
The joint venture will consist of EGATi (40%), Ratch Group (30%) and Electricity Generating (30%).
The plant, located in Hai Lang district in Quang Tri province, has an installed capacity of 1,320 megawatts, said Santichai Osotpavapusit, acting EGATi president.
The development cost was not revealed. The plant is expected to begin commercial operation in 2025, with electricity sold to Vietnam Electricity under a long-term power purchase agreement.