The Coca-Cola Foundation continues support of IUCN and island waste management program for 3rd year, cultivating added value waste separation and creating sustainable policy changes
The problem of 'island waste' remains one of Thailand's top challenges and needs to be addressed urgently. Because islands are surrounded by water, creating transport difficulties, waste on islands must be handled differently from the mainland. With this challenge, there is also a story of cooperation, where 'Koh Yao Yai, Phang Nga Province', one of Thailand's affected islands, has successfully been able to tackle the problem through the cooperation of community members.
Back in 2018, Koh Yao Yai used to be an island with an average waste volume of 3,000 kilograms per day[1]. This meant the island was exposed to odors and toxic pollution due to the incineration and landfill disposal of waste on the island. However, after support from The Coca-Cola Foundation and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in conjunction with the local community under a project entitled: 'Tackling Marine Plastics in Thailand, from Community-based Actions to Policy', the impact of the island waste problem on Koh Yao Yai has decreased substantially.
This achievement is a result of promoting integrated waste management, which focuses on community-based management through building understanding and changing mindset of people in the community that lead to behavioral change at an individual level. In addition, there is an ordinance on waste management, a policy of waste management of local government organizations, that emphasizes waste sorting management at home. From the success of the project in Koh Yao Yai sub district, the project has expanded to sub districts Pru Nai and Koh Yao Noi, widely expanding cooperation for integrated waste management in Koh Yao district in Phang Nga province.
"The Coca-Cola Foundation, the global philanthropic arm of The Coca-Cola Company, supports community sustainability initiatives to take care of and address environmental issues for communities around the world," said Saadia Madsbjerg, President, The Coca-Cola Foundation "a collaborative approach is vital to tackling the island waste challenge".
"For this reason, a collaborative project with the IUCN was formed to create concrete changes on Koh Yao Yai. The project has built cooperation between everyone in the community and has become a model for waste management on the island. This 3rd year of implementation will create more positive impacts on the community and surrounding society, forming a community-based island waste management model that can be applied to other islands, reducing the amount of waste on the island in a sustainable and efficient manner." said Nuntivat Thamhatai, Secretary-General of The Coca-Cola Foundation Thailand.
After the success of raising awareness on waste problems, proper waste sorting process and bringing recycled materials back into a proper management process, the project is now aiming to operate its 3rd year in full force by improving the recycling collection policy and the waste management system in household and public space in the sub districts of Koh Yao Yai, Pru Nai, and Koh Yao Noi, in Koh Yao district, Phang Nga province. There will be operations, emphasizing the participation of all sectors for sustainable success, and focusing on behavioral change at the household level.
Waste management in Koh Yao Yai sub district is integrated for the community, helping locals see the benefits of management, focusing on clean and green community. This could help solve other problems such as community tourism, disease prevention, and natural resources and environmental care. In addition, community-based activities are carried out with various agencies such as the community administration, village health volunteers and Subdistrict Administrative Organizations to nurture knowledge and understanding on the proper management for each type of waste.
People in the community collect and separate the waste in their household and collected from beach and community clean-up activities then the recycled material is managed to ship back to mainland for a proper recycling process. The project also applies a business model of purchasing recycled materials to encourage communities to start separating waste to generate additional income. Data collection on the amount of recycled material since 2018 shows community members have been able to bring recycled materials back to recycle process nearly 600 tons. The proceeds from the sale of these recycled materials went back to support the community, such as donating to mosques for use in public affairs, purchasing medical equipment for sub-district health-promotion hospitals, and setting up a fund for the care of patients in the district.
Ms.Supranee Kampongsun, Head of office, IUCN Thailand programme, said: "With the support from The Coca-Cola Foundation, and cooperation from community members and related agencies, the IUCN has undertaken to strengthen the community's knowledge and understanding on waste management, develop a waste management policy framework at the sub-district level, and jointly develop municipal law and municipal announcements on waste management policy in the community successfully. The operation started from a problem that existed in the area and has been overcome by changing attitudes and educating the community, making them realize that the waste problem is something where everyone needs to help each other and change their individual behavior. In addition, the project has adapted the work plan appropriately for each community so that they can see the same goals, resulting in tangible waste management plans at both the community and the sub district levels that can eventually be operated by the local community itself. This is the ultimate result of the project, which has become a real part of the development and extension for the success of the community."
Subsequently, The Coca-Cola Foundation, and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) will continue to support communities and related sectors under the project 'Tackling Marine Plastics in Thailand, from Community-based Actions to Policy' to enhance knowledge, understanding and awareness of integrated waste management, creating behavioral change to reduce plastic and other waste that can seep into the oceans. All the organizations will work together to achieve the ultimate goal of the project, where everyone in the community works together to manage the island waste in a sustainable and efficient manner and represents a model of success for other island areas in Thailand.