  | GRI 103-1, GRI 103-2, GRI 306-2 |
- Designing packaging and managing post-consumption packaging to reduce the use of natural resources while retaining quality and strength. For instance, plastic bottles are designed to use less plastic, while glass bottles and corrugated carton partitions can be recycled in the beverage manufacturing process.
- Training and engaging employees to reduce and prevent waste by using the tools of Total Quality Management (TQM) and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM).
- Increasing the value of waste or by-products by using them as raw materials in the agricultural and industrial sectors to further reinforce a reduction in the use of chemicals. For example, using malt residue and grain residue from alcohol production as ingredients in livestock feed; or using effluent from the vinasse treatment process as a soil conditioner in the growing of crops such as sugarcane, rice, cassava and oil palm.
- Using beverage manufacturing waste to generate renewable energy. For instance, vinasse, a waste by-product from the distilling process, and wastewater from beer brewing, are used to produce biogas. Furthermore, vinasse has been evaporated and developed into biomass fuel, which is used to generate heat and electricity.
INSIGHT
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Pramot Somchaiyanon
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Thai Beverage Energy Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of ThaiBev PLC, has the core responsibility of using waste from alcohol production to produce energy (Waste to Energy). This has resulted in Thai Beverage Energy’s Buriram branch winning an Excellence Award for Renewable Energy Co-generation Project at the Thailand Energy Awards 2018.
What is the Thailand Energy Awards?
The Thailand Energy Awards is a project established by the government and private sector to measure the success of projects focused on developing alternative sources of energy and energy efficiency, assessing them with the criteria of environmental management, social responsibility, expandability and potential implementation.
Which ThaiBev project received an award, and what is the achievement?
The vinasse renewable energy project of Thai Beverage Energy’s Buriram branch won the award for excellence in renewable energy, in the category of co-generation. Biogas is produced by treating vinasse to replace fossil fuels to generate steam and electricity. It can replace fuel oil in the production of spirits, enough to generate surplus electricity that is sold to the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA).
After winning the award, does the company have any plans to convert more waste into energy in the future?
ThaiBev has a plan to expand its renewable energy generation to every factory in order to treat waste from production, conserve the environment, and create sustainability and energy security for the company, as energy is another key indispensable factor for the industry.
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Benefits of the Program
- Promotes sustainability and energy security
- Reduces the consumption of fossil fuels
- Increases the proportion of renewable energy in Thailand
- Reduces greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80,000 tons of CO2e / year*
- Solves the problem of strong odors from vinasse by using a closed system for treatment
- Farmers can use effluent from vinasse treatment as a soil conditioner
- Increases employment opportunities for the local community
| STORY | Reducing Waste and the Use of Plastic in Everyday Life |
- Waste bank, waste separation, and participation in waste management campaigns
promote the reduction and separation of waste at the point of use, thus adding value to waste before it is properly disposed of. This is expected to reduce waste by 600kg/site/year. - Converting food waste to fertilizer
reduces waste and impacts on the environment. This project is expected to reduce waste by 1.8 tons/site/year. - A project to reduce and/or end the use of plastic bags and foam boxes,
offers points collection in exchange for using cloth bags, bringing one’s own glass. The purpose is to stimulate a reduction in the use of single-use plastic and encourage the use of materials that are more environmentally friendly.
- Energy from biogas:
a by-product of beverage production. It can be used to substitute energy from fossil fuels and produce less GHG emissions. This reduces the company’s fuel costs: in 2018, the company was able to replace the use of fuel oil by 19.26 million liters, equal to a savings of 306.85 million baht. - Energy from biomass:
a ThaiBev has a factory that produces alternative energy from vinasse in Kanchanaburi Province. The co-generation system can produce both electricity and heat from concentrated vinasse. This project started selling electricity to the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) on September 11, 2018, and is expected to produce heat energy in the form of steam for use in the production of spirits at the rate of 60 tons per hour, and electricity for the PEA at a maximum rate of 7.5 MWh.
- Reduced the use of resources in main packaging materials by a total of 598,199 tons.
- In the beverage business, as much as 88.63 percent of all waste from the production process (12,677 tons) can be value-added (reused / recycled / energy recovered).
- In the food business, as much as 44.08 percent of all waste from the production process (796 tons) can be value-added (reused / recycled / energy recovered).
Post-consumption packaging business
ThaiBev has a plan to construct a recycling plant in Ayutthaya Province in 2019, to augment existing management of glass bottle packaging to become a leader in the glass bottle recycling business. ThaiBev will expand its recycling business to recycle a wider range of packaging such as PET plastic, aluminum cans and corrugated paper.
Sustainable Leader
In glass bottles and recycling industry.
Variety of Recycling Materials
Extend service line to other packaging materials: PET plastic bottles, aluminum cans, corrugated paper.
The First Recycling Factory
Establish the first recycling factory in Ayutthaya province.
Operational Efficiency
Adoption of technology, mechanization and standardization.
Expansion of Recycling Business
Buying glass cullet for production of glass bottles.
Start of Recycling Business
Buying and retrieving used glass bottles for reusing and recycling.
Renewable energy business
In 2019, ThaiBev will construct two more biogas plants to process vinasse at distilleries in Nong Khai and Nakhon Sawan Provinces. Public hearings have been held and risk analysis reports have been prepared for the two locations, and it is expected that both sites can produce biogas to replace fuel oil for the distilleries in 2020. This will help reduce GHG emissions by 30,000 tons at each site every year. Also, there will be a pilot project to generate electricity from solar cells at breweries and factories producing green tea.
