Recycling...

[effortless]

Having just moved to Bangkok, I am finding it very difficult to find any recycling stations to drop of newspapers, plastics etc. Are there any recycling stations/bins in the sukhumvit area?

I've just come from a country where recycling comes naturally and am finding it tough just to throw away plastic bottles and newspapers in normal garbage bins. How does recycling work here???

Any info would be much appreciated! Cheers.

[solent01]

Sorry, I don't live in Bangkok, so not sure how it works there, but in and around our village we have families that go around all the bins looking for recyclables, then take them away and sell them for a few baht per Kg, be it paper, cardboard, plastic containers, bottles etc etc. My wife tells me it all goes off to be recycled one way or another.

Edited March 5, 2007 by solent01

[Little Black Duck]

Same Here in Phuket, we have a Small Factory that generates Some Plastic and Cardboard Waste

I was delighted to find a nice little Old Lady on a motorcycle and sidecar that collects it..

[Thai-Spy]

Having just moved to Bangkok, I am finding it very difficult to find any recycling stations to drop of newspapers, plastics etc. Are there any recycling stations/bins in the sukhumvit area?

I've just come from a country where recycling comes naturally and am finding it tough just to throw away plastic bottles and newspapers in normal garbage bins. How does recycling work here???

Any info would be much appreciated! Cheers.

You don't mention whether you're in an apartment or a detached home. If an apartment building or condo of any size, you may find that there's already an informal recycling program in place, courtesy of the security or janitorial staff. Try leaving a few glass or plastic items near (but not in) the garbage bins; if they disappear overnight, you've got your answer since almost no one in Thailand will move someone else's mess.

Most of the crews of the big garbage collection trucks will also root through what they collect and seek out the higher-value materials.

[sceadugenga]

Same up here near Chiang Rai, the housekeeping ladies reckon my bottles, newspapers and cans are a bonus. I suppose on what I pay them they need all the extras they can get.

[leisurely]

Certainlly where we live in Bangkok the domestic help have an unofficial recycling place. Everyone puts anything salable in a pile (on the emergency stairs ) and once a sizable pile has been accrued they take it to the little shack and get paid for it. Apparently they share the profits. Once they have had there sort through, the bin men empty every bag before it is put into the lorry

[Helene]

There is one big black bin outside of our apartment and everything goes in there. Back home, we had three bins, one for recyclables (glass, aluminium, cardboard boxes), one for green waste (lawn cuttings, tree branches) and the last one for general rubbish. Bin inspectors come around to check if we are putting things where they belong. If not, they issue a warning first followed by a fine if things didn't improve. I had become so used to separating my rubbish that when I arrived here in Thailand, I had feelings of guilt everytime I went to take the rubbish out!

[leisurely]

Sorry, my response was appaling along with the atrocious spelling it didn't make sense. The people who collect the recyclables are the maids (loathe that word) and they too are the ones who put it on the emergency stairs - not the tenants, we are blameless.

On the street too you will often see someone with either a push cart or a bike with a contraption on the front for collect stuff. It seems very well organised.

[Mobi]

It's all totally freelance in Thailand.

The authorities don't give a sh..t about recycling. They don't even try to educate the populace on the merits of proper garbage disposal.

I live in a village within walking distance of 2 local markets. The roads leading from the market and past my house are strewn with rubbish - mainly plastic.

Periodically, an ancient, skeletal gentleman, on an even more ancient bicycle, wends his weary way along the sois, meticulously collecting every scrap of plastic, and adding it to an increrasingly rickety pile that protrudes skywards from his trusty, rusty steed.

That's the way recycling is carried out in LOS.

[bangsue]

in our apartment block the staff take out the glass/plastic/paper also.

there are a couple of shop houses on Soi Rang Nam, opposite Century Movie Plaza which take recyclable stuff.

[soundman]

Why bother finding the correct coloured plastic recepticle with a built in rubbish desriminator.

Just wind down the window and let it fly.

You will just have to take a leap of faith that it wont be there in the morning. Guaranteed.....

Cans 50B kg

Cardboard 4B kg

Newspaper 3.50 kg

Plastic 2 - 8B kg

Glass 1 B kg

Empty Singha Bottles with Cardboard box 12B - Dozen

Steel 6.50B kg

Non Descript Metal 2.50 kg

Rubbers 4.50 kg

Used truck tyres 50B each

Used toothbrush 3B each

Copper wire 265B kg

Used engine oil 5B kg

Pig fat 6B kg

Chicken fat 7B kg

Before recylcling companies hit thailand the place was a pigsty.

Since then it has cleaned up significantly.

Why bother when there is an army of people doing it allready, & making a good profit as well. Unless you actually need the money yourself......

Soundman.

[qwertz]

The Thais are world class recyclers. It's amazing what they manage to reuse. But they haven't learned to deal with the toxic waste yet. What they can't reuse is left lying around.