Suez announces plastics recycling plant in Thailand

Suez, headquartered in Paris, has announced plans to build a plastic recycling plant in Thailand to turn scrap plastics into circular polymers. According to a news release from Suez, this marks the group’s first plastic recycling project in Asia and will serve as a model for the rest of Southeast Asia. The company says the plant will adhere to strict environmental standards and contribute to Thailand’s 2030 target to achieve 100 percent plastic recycling. 

The plant, which will be located in the Bang Phli District near Bangkok, will convert 30,000 tons per year of locally collected low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) film into high-quality postconsumer recycled plastic (PCR).

According to a news release from Suez, the plant will be equipped with an advanced water treatment system that minimizes water usage and ensures the surrounding environment is not affected. Part of the energy used by the plant is powered by rooftop solar panels to further reduce the environmental footprint. Construction works for a building area of up to 14,000 square meters are expected to be completed by the middle of 2020. The plant will employ 80 people.

“In Thailand, 2 million tons of plastic waste are produced per year and only a quarter is recycled,” says Steve Clark, CEO of Suez Asia. “As a leader in plastic recycling in Europe, Suez will fully utilize its technological expertise to support the country in meeting its objective of reducing plastic waste, thus contributing to the preservation of the oceans.”

Suez reports that it processes nearly 400,000 tons of plastic scrap in nine specialist facilities in Europe each year, and it produces 150,000 tons of circular polymers each year.

The new plant is part of Suez’s development strategy in Southeast Asia, where it has been supporting regional countries in improving their drinking water, sanitation and waste management services, the company reports. In the last two years, Suez has won the contracts to build an industrial waste-to-energy plant in Thailand, extend the Medan drinking water production plant in Indonesia and build a wastewater treatment plant and sewerage network in Vietnam.