Waste no time: Phuket fast-tracks trash tech near city centre
A ticking time bomb lurks in the heart of Phuket’s beautiful landscape but not one you would expect. Phuket City Municipality is racing against the clock to establish a state-of-the-art solid waste sorting facility at the waste disposal centre in Saphan Hin, a stone’s throw from bustling Phuket City centre.
Deputy Mayor Suphachok La-ongphet revealed that by the end of this month, the notorious Pit 4 of the landfill will be concreted over, marking a significant milestone in the project.
The bold initiative, estimated at a whopping 40 million baht, aims to revolutionise waste processing by sorting rubbish before it hits the incinerators, thus speeding up the entire burning process, said Suphachok.
“We’re in cahoots with the Siam Cement Group (SCG) to pour cement and set the groundwork for a game-changing waste sorting machine,”
But there’s a catch: the precise area to be covered is still in the hands of SCG’s number-crunchers.
The cash injection includes a generous 35 million baht from the central government, with an additional 5 million ponied up by Phuket City itself.
It covers cement pouring, landfill clearance, and the installation of cutting-edge machinery, all in a bid to reclaim precious landfill space while we wait for a new incinerator slated for 2027.
Deputy Mayor Suphachok was candid about the stakes: 400 tonnes of waste get buried every day, turning up the heat on Phuket’s overstretched waste management system.
Back in November, with the holiday influx looming, Suphachok sounded the alarm. Daily trash output from locals and businesses was clocking in at 1,400 tonnes but with an incinerator capacity maxed out at 700 tonnes, the overflow into landfills was suffocating.
Phuket’s rising rubbish levels are fuelled by its ever-growing tourism industry and ballooning local businesses and households, reported Phuket News
Phuket Governor Sophon Suwannarat confirmed that from January to September last year, a staggering 9 million visitors descended upon Phuket, and tourism gurus are bracing for even more footfall this year.
Once up and running, the new waste sorting facility is set to cut incineration time and sharpen waste disposal efficiency, offering a glimmer of green hope for the province drowning in its own success. Is this the dawn of a cleaner Phuket, or just another chapter in its rubbish saga? Time will tell.
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