Laos, Thailand and Israel have agreed to establish a recycling factory in Vientiane to improve refuse collection and reuse, keep Vientiane clean, and protect the environment.
The agreement was signed in Vientiane on Wednesday between Khouane Meung Group Company (Laos) President Mr Khamla Nackhavong, Freshco Intertrade Com-pany (Thailand) Managing Director Mr Yanapon Chaichanawongsarot, and Greencycles and Energy and Recycling Company (Israel) President Mr Adam Artwinski.
“We will invest US$30 million in total on this project, but in the first three years we will invest US$9 million, of which 30 percent will come from Laos and 70 percent from the Thais and Israelis,” Mr Khamla said.
The factory will be located at the landfill site at the Km 32 marker outside Vientiane, which receives about 500 tonnes of refuse a day, Mr Khamla said. It will be designed to sort, refine and reproduce plastic refuse waste into a petroleum form, to produce diesel for sale on both domestic and international mar kets.
The recycling machine will be of a modest size because Vientiane does not produce enough waste to justify a larger one. “While we are waiting for this machine to be imported from Israel, we will first use another machine from Thailand to separate the garbage and produce biogas,” he said.
While theirs is a commercial venture, the companies would like to see the amount of refuse being buried at the Km 32 site reduced, and see some of the energy that went into producing the waste go back into the energy cycle rather than leaching out over time as methane gas.
“Our vision is to reduce waste through new technology, make the area smell better and make Vientiane a greener city,” Mr Yanapon said.
At present the population of Vientiane is about 750,000. Over the next three years the population will increase and so will the amount of refuse, he said.
The factory aims to reduce the amount of garbage on the streets of Vientiane, with cleanliness one of the six development aims of the city, Mr Yanapon added. In this endeavour, he will need to work closely with the government and relevant sectors in providing the facilities to collect rubbish.
Pollution and unnecessary waste are a problem not only in Vientiane but all over the world. It not only makes cities and towns unsightly, but threatens public health and is having increasingly destructive effects on ecosystems and the natural environment.
As the capital of Laos, Vientiane generates a lot more refuse than other cities and towns and therefore is the most obvious place to site the facility, Mr Khamla said. However in the future they may also look at collecting rubbish from other towns and provinces nearby.
Mr Artwinski said his company had many years of experience in the refuse industry in Israel which they could apply to Laos.
“ We have many years of experience at Greencycles Energy and Recycling Company which we can bring to Laos. We intend to be highly responsible in line with government policy,” he said, saying the factory would profit both his business and the people and environment of Vientiane.
Source: Vientianetimes
