Generating quite a buzz lately, a trailblazing initiative driven by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) targeted at encouraging orderly waste segregation amongst households, has been posting encouraging results. The spokesperson for the BMA, Mr. Aekvarunyoo Amarapala, revealed during a decisive Saturday press announcement that decreasing trends in the overall volume of rubbish reaching the city’s waste management facilities, along with resultant reduction in waste treatment expenditures, have been observed over the past half a year.
Amid February and the conclusion of the previous month, noteworthily, a substantial drop in the aggregate volume of the city’s waste, equating to a daily average deduction of around 444 tonnes, has been recorded. This phenomenal dip, as quantified by Mr. Amarapala, translates to about 67,248 tonnes as compared to figures from the equivalent timeframe a year ago, thereby resulting in a remarkable saving of 127.8 million baht in terms of waste treatment expenditure.
Elaborating on the month-wise details, he pointed out that an average daily reduction of 200 tonnes, signifying a 2.25% decrease, was observed in February. This positive trend was steadily followed by corresponding downward shifts of 272 tonnes (3% decrease) in March, 318 tonnes (3.6% decrease) in April, accelerating to 713 tonnes (7.5% decrease) in May and to a stable 719 tonnes (7.4% decrease) in June.
The resulting monetary savings were no less significant. A saving of 10.6 million baht was recorded in February, climbing to 16 million baht in March, 18.13 million baht in April, and culminating with a whopping 42 million baht in May, which was sustained with an almost equal cutback of 41 million baht the following month.
“This impressive outcome can undoubtedly be credited to BKK Zero Waste, an ambitious and collaborative waste separation venture involving the BMA, numerous public and private allies operating on similar green ethos,” Mr. Amarapala articulated. Amid these allies are a multitude of communities within the city, an impressive tally of 998 businesses, educational institutions, local fresh markets, religious entities in addition to the organizers of public and festive functions.
Allied forces in the initiative have been diligently traversing the route of categorizing their waste into distinct sections of wet, dry and recyclable materials prior to the waste being picked up by BMA garbage handlers. An additional dimension to the project, as Mr. Amarapala expressed, has been the drive to motivate households, enterprises and various organizational bodies to demarcate kitchen waste from biomass components, encompassing leaves and grass specifically.
In this respect, Mr. Amarapala drew attention to the discernible plunge in the volume of wet waste received, which dropped by 55 tonnes daily, as collated from the cumulative data emanating from 1,112 participating sources involved in the project. This outstanding achievement stands as a testament to the BMA’s diligent drive in their waste management efforts.
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