Recycling In Cm - What Can We Recycle?

[ChiangMaiAjarn]

Since living in Chiang Mai I've been pretty poor at recycling, but have decided to make an effort... advice needed...

Where I live people regularly come around in trucks to collect recyclables. If you leave them by the gate in plastic bags they just take them away - great! My question is: what exactly do they want?

I put all paper, card and cardboard in one bag (I'm pretty sure they want all of this)

Cans (both aluminium and tin go in another (this is fine i think)

Plastics go in another - here's the problem. Do they only want plastic bottles, or do they want plastic packaging and inserts, polystyrene, etc?

If I'm going to sort the stuff I might as well do it properly and save the collectors having to rummage through it and throw things out. Equally I don't want to throw things in the bin if they can be recycled!

Anyone know please?

[StevieH]

good question this. i recently moved into an apartment block on huay kaew and was annoyed to find that the building doesn't have a recycling policy of any sort. so all glass and plastic is expected to be chucked down the garbage chute with everything else.

[Bill97]

It could vary from place to place but the location I take recycle stuff to will

1. not take any foam packaging or wood

2. not take plastic bags so I give those to small shops which reuse them

3. take all other plastic I have brought them

4. take all metal and clean paper products

[bunta71]

How about my ex-wife??

[Bill97]

How about my ex-wife??

Why are you still keeping her around? That undoubtedly explains the dogs are barking all the time.

[krauno]

Recycle puying!

[bunta71]

How about my ex-wife??

Why are you still keeping her around? That undoubtedly explains the dogs are barking all the time.

Old habits die slowly....I could get over it though! Oh and about that smell...

[rken]

People usually come around an pick up the recyclables, plastic bottle, cardboard and cans and pay me. I am currently buying used flourescent light tubes 5bt each. I will pick up. aloha have fun rick

[Mapguy]

From the Chiang Mai Mail:

“Waste to Value” village product display at Northern Village

Reducing burning by recycling into commercial products

The results of a project launched last year by Prof. Doungchan Charoenmuang and sponsored by Chiang Mai University’s Social Research Institute, its Faculty of marketing and its Fine Arts Faculty, were on display recently at Northern Village, Airport Plaza, pending an official opening in August.

Entitled “From Waste to Value avoiding Burning,” the sales exhibition featured many items, including bags, flowerpots, handicrafts and works of art, all transformed from garbage and waste material by workers in three Chiang Mai villages, who had been trained for almost a year in this unique method of reducing burning and its environmental and health hazards.

Professor Doungchan can be reached at [email protected]

The website for the institute is www.sri.cmu.ac.th

[bluweyze]

Since living in Chiang Mai I've been pretty poor at recycling, but have decided to make an effort... advice needed...

Where I live people regularly come around in trucks to collect recyclables. If you leave them by the gate in plastic bags they just take them away - great! My question is: what exactly do they want?

I put all paper, card and cardboard in one bag (I'm pretty sure they want all of this)

Cans (both aluminium and tin go in another (this is fine i think)

Plastics go in another - here's the problem. Do they only want plastic bottles, or do they want plastic packaging and inserts, polystyrene, etc?

If I'm going to sort the stuff I might as well do it properly and save the collectors having to rummage through it and throw things out. Equally I don't want to throw things in the bin if they can be recycled!

Anyone know please?

The recycle places near me buy nearly everything, aluminium, paper, cardboard, steel, copper, glass bottles, pvc but not plastic bags.electric wire and even sold some old windows.

[ataloss]

Within nanoseconds, it seems, there are folks who come by and sort through the garbage when placed outside my house. I try to separate as much as possible beforehand, but they are better at the sorting. Any broken glass I wrap in heavy cardboard and bag it with large red "X"s, hoping they understand. I see this all the time throughout Thailand. Thailand, it seems, has inadvertently been at the forefront of recycling for decades!

[eek]

I saw at one of the Wats some recycle bins, but i forget which one (as i dont drive/have a car, it isnt possible for me to go with all my bits so I just thought the idea was nice and left it at that)..anyone else know?

I leave my recycling up to the ladies who clear out the bins in the apartment complex. I always see them sifting through and separating everyones junk ( must be a really yucky job. )

I also recommend not taking new plastic bags when shopping. Either re-use the old ones or take your own bags for supermarket shopping, and dont let them put one or two small things into a bag at the 7-11 etc (also, i think, no need for so many straws). In Thai, if you are not sure how to refuse, just say "Mai sigh toong" (dont add bag), and "Mai sigh lot" (dont add straw).

[rishi]

I'm merely responding to the heading of this thread "Recycling In Cm - What Can We Recycle?". The question comes up on this board once in a while and I haven't bothered to read replies to see whether it has been appropriately answered, already.

Nevertheless, according to my experience, anything just remotely recyclable both can and will be recycled regardless of whatever you do to it except burning it in your condo. I live in the old city in a house with a balcony, where I enjoy to sit an hour or two reflecting on life and the world situation in general. Sometimes, I sit there late at night / early in the morning and watch the street life.

I owe to tell that in the inner city garbage is disposed of by putting the garbage bag out in front at closing/bed time where it will be collected by the municipal garbagetrucks in the early morning between 4 and 6 am every day of the year. However, in the timelapse between the garbage is put out and the municipal truck comes around about a million scavengers have searched through the garbage. I've seen some late scavenger going through the garbage, after 999,999 other scavengers have been investigating, and carefully pick out some tiny piece of paper, carefully scraping off the dogshit and placing it in his treasure trailer. On to the next half emptied garbage bag.

So, anyone having problems getting rid of recyclable garbage - in case you are serious - just put it in a plasticbag and bring it down to any curb in the inner city after dark. You can't but make someone happy by doing so!

I'll suggest environment conscious condo dwellers - not knowing how to dispose of recyclables - put anything of glass in a separate bag and place it near the garbage shaft, it WILL be collected. Dump everything else in the shaft, it WILL be searched through a million times by guys who know where to get money for such stuff ... And no! - you are not helping the world the least by separating things in a numbers of different containers beforehand. The only thing you'll accomplish be doing so is to provide recyclables in a convenient manner to security guards and others on a fixed salary working in your condo building. By carefully sorting your garbage the only thing you'll accomplish is to make sure guys on the lower levels of the "scavenger-chain" will find fewer treasures to put in their treasure trailer.

Edited July 31, 2008 by rishi