With the aim of saving and potentially generating revenue, Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt is strategically focusing on maximizing the efficacy of waste management in the city. In a recent Facebook livestream, he shed light on the current scenario – about 9,000 tonnes of waste is transported to three waste management facilities – Nong Khaem, Sai Mai and On Nut, every day for disposal.
The Nong Khaem Municipal Solid Waste Management Centre, one of the city’s primary waste disposal units, single-handedly processes almost 4,000 tonnes of waste each day. The cost for disposing of this waste oscillates within 649.50 and 970 baht per tonne. Chadchart Sittipunt emphasized on the need to decrease this cost, so the saved funds could serve other municipal needs. His statement came during a live broadcast from the Nong Khaem centre.
Providing an instance of their successful efforts towards controlling spendings, the governor revealed how they managed to bring down the price of waste disposal at the On Nut Municipal Solid Waste Management Centre from 683 baht to 600 baht per tonne. Despite this, he admitted that the city spends a minimum of 20 million baht daily to dispose of 10,000 tonnes of waste, converting to an annual expenditure of 7.2 billion baht.
In an attempt to create a new revenue stream, the city is now considering options to repurpose its waste. A key focus, as per Chadchart, will be to derive fertilizer from organic waste. Additionally, City Hall is also undertaking initiatives to reduce deposit costs as far as feasible.
On a similar note, Deputy Bangkok Governor, Jakkapan Phiewngam, revealed a plan to rent 50 electric waste-collection tricycles for a span of five years at a total cost of 45 million baht. The move comes as an adaptive problem-solving measure since the current waste collection trucks prove too bulky to navigate through the city’s intricate network of winding roads and narrow lanes.
The project is at present in the Terms of Reference (TOR) hearing stage, and it is predicted to conclude in the coming three months. As per Jakkapan, once available, the environment-friendly tricycles will be dispatched across all district offices. Each tricycle would be capable of collecting and carrying up to 500 kilograms of waste.
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