Public urged to donate aluminium for artificial legs

BANGKOK: -- Members of the public are being urged to donate 72 tonnes of scrap aluminium to manufacturers of artificial limbs for the disabled, the director-general of the Department of Pollution Control, Apichai Chvajarernpun, announced yesterday.

Noting a two-fold increase in the use of aluminium in product packaging over the past decade, Mr. Apichai called for used aluminium to be put to good use.

While around 53 percent of used aluminium is now recycled, that still leaves a huge amount of scrap aluminium, which costs around Bt432 million each year for local authorities to dispose of.

Scrap aluminium is of particular concern for the Department of Pollution Control as it takes up a large amount of room in landfill sites.

Mr. Apichai said that in order to put this scrap aluminium to good use, his department was teaming up with the Artificial Limb Foundation under the patronage of Her Majesty the Queen and two private sector companies - Bangkok Can Manufacturing and Thai Beverage Can - to encourage the public to donate 72 tonnes of scrap aluminium.

The metal, which will be donated to His Majesty the King in recognition of his 72nd birthday, will be used to create artificial limbs for the disabled.

Members of the public will be able to donate aluminium ring-pulls at various points in department stores and other locations.

--TNA 2004-12-02

Public urged to donate aluminium for artificial legs 

BANGKOK: --  Members of the public are being urged to donate 72 tonnes of scrap aluminium ......

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good! My g/f has been collecting my old beer Singha and her Pepsi cans to make some pin money. Now at least we can get rid of the three large garbage bags full of them - and hopefully I won't have to tread on 'em all to squash 'em.

Several years ago, there was a special on TV about a couple of Europeans in Cambodia who were making artificial limbs out of plastic bottles. They could make them for something like $5. They asked the UN - which was in the process of preparing their own artificial limb production facility, for financial assistance. The UN informed them that in order to comply with UN assistance, they would need to build the limbs in a UN sort of fashion.... at the UN production cost of a couple of hundred dollars. These two guys eventually got funding from elsewhere and simply carried on.

Hopefully they melt down the cans first, or there's gonna be a lot of kids with Chang and Singha arms and legs.

Now this could cause an early predisposition towards alcoholism or at the very least, open up an entirely new means of advertising.

It is more than two years ago that people already were collecting 'pull-rings' .

For the manufacturing of artificial legs.

I remember some very wealthy friends of me, who were in the habit of drinking beer for several hundreds of Baht a day. But still almost cutting their fingers to separate these rings from the cans.

Charity by rich alcoholics! Have another can, it helps the one-legged poor!

I never heard about anybody who finally collected them and brought them to the factory where they are supposed to produce artificial legs of aluminium won out of donated 'pull-rings'.

Its like filling rubber dinghies with the blurbs of people who eat too much and too quick. To save air!

I wonder about those rings. Why can't they use the whole can? I would not expect to aluminum to be any different. Is this a case of the private manufacturer of these limbs getting it's raw materials for free?

I wonder about those rings.  Why can't they use the whole can?  I would not expect to aluminum to be any different.  Is this a case of the private manufacturer of these limbs getting it's raw materials for free?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This was going to be my next question too - is it only the pull-ring that's wanted? I have 3 garbage bags full of cans too