Home / Sustainability / 2017 Sustainability Report / Caring for the Environment and the Entire Value Chain Circular Economy: Waste Management and Uses of Waste
GRI 103-1, GRI 103-2, GRI 306-2

“ ThaiBev is determined to manage waste with efficiency and in strict compliance with laws and regulations 43% Reduction of waste intensity Compared to 2014 as a base year ”


2020 Goal
80%
of main packaging materials are reused, recycled, and retrieved
Waste prevention is the best way to manage waste. ThaiBev is mindful about ingredient selection and resource consumption in the manufacturing process, from product design to post-consumption packaging management.

In the production of beverage and food products, ThaiBev brings natural raw ingredients through intricate processing steps to ensure that the consumer receives high-quality merchandise. These processing steps may produce waste that affects the environment and the community. Therefore, the Company is determined to set up a waste management system with maximum efficiency, choosing waste treatment or elimination methods following international standards and in compliance with the laws and regulations. ThaiBev implements a “circular economy” framework in its operations, as follows:


Packaging Design and Post-Consumption Packaging Management
Waste prevention is the best way to manage waste. ThaiBev is mindful about ingredient selection and resource consumption in the manufacturing process, from product design to post-consumption packaging management. This is evidenced, for instance, in the design of drinking water bottles that contain less plastic and in its practice of reusing glass bottles and corrugated carton partitions in the beverage manufacturing process, among other areas. In order to show the determination to achieve the above objective of waste management, the Company has set progressively increasing goals for packaging.

2017 Achievement
The Company has successfully reduced resource consumption by 831,124 metric tons.


Plastic
1,610
metric tons

Glass
797,485
metric tons

Paper
32,029
metric tons


Engaging Employees in Waste Reduction
ThaiBev uses the frameworks “Total Quality Management” (TQM) and “Total Productive Maintenance” (TPM) wherein everyone takes part in management and equipment maintenance, respectively, as main tools in the manufacturing process. These tools not only add business value by maximizing resource consumption efficiency, but also reduce manufacturing costs and increase customer satisfaction.

Beer Thai (1991) Public Company Limited, the first brewery in Thailand and in Southeast Asia, recently received the award “TPM Excellence, Category A” from the TPM Awards Ceremony 2016, held by the Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM). The Company has observed the 8 core TPM principles of maximizing efficiency and minimizing loss in the manufacturing process through problem analysis tools, good maintenance practice, education and training, among others. As a consequence, there was a reduction in waste from the manufacturing process and an increase in recourse consumption efficiency. This award serves as a good certification for the quality of ThaiBev’s waste management.

An Example of Engaging Employees in Waste Reduction in the Food Business Group
The best way to manage waste is to prevent waste from being produced in the first place. The Oishi Company, a food business under ThaiBev Group, has encouraged staff participation in waste reduction, wherein employees jointly find ways to maximize the use of all parts of a salmon as the main ingredient in developing food items, in order to reduce food waste. As a result, staff came up with 12 salmon dishes, efficiently using all parts, no matter if the dish is sushi, sashimi, temaki, teppanyaki, or fried salmon skin, among others. Apart from waste reduction, this initiative also boosted diversity in the menu, attracting more consumers. The Company has even used salmon bones as ingredients in soup to reduce food waste.

Waste Value-Added Activities
ThaiBev recognizes the opportunity of turning waste or “by-products” into valuable products which may then be variously used as raw materials in the agricultural and industrial sectors. On top of adding social value and reducing environmental impact. Furthermore, the Company has continuously done research and development in partnership with both the government and leading universities in the country, so as to maximize the benefits. For instance, malt residue and grain residue, remainders from alcohol production, contain nutrients and nutritional value and so will be used as ingredients in livestock feed. For another example, vinasse that comes out of the distilling process may be used as a soil-conditioner in the growing of sugarcane, rice, cassava, and oil palm, among others. These examples illustrate how waste can become starting ingredients in a circular economy; this also lends support to chemical reduction, which in turn foster sustainability in the agricultural sector.

ThaiBev has continuously done research and development in partnership with both the government and leading universities in the country. The most recent of research projects is “Lightweight aggregate,” an open innovation in collaboration with the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA).

Lightweight aggregate, grain-like synthetic material made from the process of incinerating industrial waste, with the intention of obtaining strength equal to that of ceramics with numerous pores inside (>70% air pores). It is a raw material that can be put in a concrete mix for use in construction in the form of pre-made paving blocks, lightweight blocks, and precast concrete. Lightweight aggregate has high strength and low density, resulting in its light weight, its status as insulator against heat and coldness, and its good sound absorption. It is expected that Lightweight aggregate will be manufactured and sold starting in April 2018.


Waste-to-Energy


ThaiBev has continuously done research and development to add value to manufacturing waste and use it to generate energy. For instance, vinasse, a waste by-product from the spirit distilling process, and wastewater from the beer brewing process, are used to produce biogas. Furthermore, vinasse has been used to produce biomass fuel in the form of concentrated vinasse, which may replace fossil fuel in steam generation used in manufacturing. The Company has turned waste into alternative energy sources for producing 24.84 million liters in total, or 278 million baht in the year 2017. The aforementioned procedure supports the use of renewable energy, reduces emission, and reduces production costs. Moreover, a new company power plant is under construction, generating electricity from biomass fuel developed from vinasse. This is an efficient way of turning waste into energy.


Responsible Waste Disposal
Even with preventive measures minimizing waste generation and waste-to-landfill, it is impossible to avoid waste generation from manufacturing for the sake of quality and safety for the consumer. Therefore, correct and legal methods of waste treatment or elimination are observed in the Company’s rules, so that its business operations are accountable to the community, society, and environment.

As a result of efficient waste management in the manufacturing process, the Company in 2017 has generated total waste of 63,681 metric tons. The waste intensity (kilogram per hectoliter of finished goods), meanwhile, has decreased by 43 percent compared to the year 2014 as a base year.




Unit : kg/hL of finished goods


14%
Reduction of hazardous waste intensity compared to 2014 as a base year

31%
Reduction of general waste intensity compared to 2014 as a base year

ThaiBev
2017 Sustainability