ThaiBev aims to achieve packaging circularity, taking into account all environmental as well as social impacts. The company integrates the circular economy concept into its entire packaging value chain, from design stage to post-consumption packaging management. The key elements of ThaiBev’s management approach are: ThaiBev works with suppliers to design and develop packaging that uses fewer natural resources while maintaining quality and functionality.

• ThaiBev (Thailand operations) has successfully downgauged aluminum cans and reduced the amount of aluminum used in can packaging by 1,200 metric tonnes compared to 2020. By 2030, ThaiBev aims to reduce the amount of raw materials used for aluminum can production by 2,700 metric tonnes compared to 2020. Other packaging reduction initiatives include reducing the weight of PET bottles, downgauging crown caps, reducing the thickness of the shrink film for trays, resizing corrugated cartons or changing them to eco-friendly packaging, and removing or reusing the paper inserts inside corrugated cartons.
• SABECO has also downgauged aluminum cans by 1 gram per can set since 2019 and reduced the weight of corrugated cartons by approximately 25-36 grams per set compared to 2019 without compromising on the integrity of packaging quality.

Thai Beverage Recycle (TBR) is responsible for retrieving ThaiBev’s post-consumption packaging from business partners throughout the country and sorting them at company-owned facilities. The main packaging materials retrieved by TBR are glass, aluminum cans, PET bottles, and corrugated cartons. In order to ensure efficient closed-loop post-consumption packaging management, TBR collaborates with partners throughout the packaging value chain including local collectors and recyclers. Through this collaboration, we are able to create closed-loop schemes especially for our main packaging materials: glass, paper, PET bottles, and aluminum cans.

Additionally, in response to Thailand’s new legislation allowing the use of recycled plastic in food contact packaging, ThaiBev plans to commercially launch non-alcoholic beverage products using recycled PET (rPET) packaging in 2024 and has set a target of using 30% rPET in PET bottles by 2030. ThaiBev established BevTech Co., Ltd. as a research and development center in 2018. In addition to R&D on sustainable packaging, BevTech researches machines and robotics to facilitate automation in ThaiBev’s production facilities. ThaiBev uses artificial intelligence (AI) bottle-sorting technology to separate the bottles in good condition from the defective ones.

To further improve our used packaging collection capability, ThaiBev implemented a digital area management tool called OASIS in 2022 to increase the collection rate of used glass bottles by identifying new bottle collectors in strategic locations and using backhaul logistics to collect used glass bottles. The tool allows ThaiBev to identify strategic locations where the used bottle collection rate is lower than the target and potential collectors in the identified areas. This is done by using data analytics, taking into account multiple parameters: sales volume, logistics, purchase of used bottles, suppliers’ information and population density. ThaiBev engages with stakeholders throughout its value chain to ensure end-to-end sustainable packaging management. It also works closely with Thailand Institute of Packaging and Recycling Management for a Sustainable Environment (TIPMSE) of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI). ThaiBev’s Chief Non-Alcoholic Beverage Product Group and Chief Supply Chain Management Thailand are currently President and Vice President, respectively, on the TIPMSE Executive Board.

As one of the co-founders of the Thailand Supply Chain Network (TSCN), ThaiBev also actively engages with other TSCN co-founders to drive the sustainable packaging management agenda in Thailand. In 2023, TSCN organized “TSCN Sustainable Packaging Day” to create awareness among Thai entrepreneurs about packaging-related environmental and social impacts.
ThaiBev has actively worked with TIPMSE in developing the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme in Thailand. EPR principles are included in Thailand’s Plastic Waste Management Plan for 2019–2030 and the national agenda of resource management in the circular economy as part of the BCG Economic Model. Under the EPR concept, producers are responsible for the environmental impacts of their products and packaging throughout their entire life cycle, including the post-consumption stage.

In December 2021, ThaiBev and its subsidiaries, Oishi and Sermsuk, along with other leading companies in Thailand, formed a consortium to produce “The Declaration of Intent of Extended Producer Responsibility” to drive EPR through the PACKBACK program. The program has been successfully applied on a pilot scale in Chon Buri Province. In 2023, PACKBACK has engaged with more than 100 parties, including producers, retailers, recyclers, local government organizations, and research institutes, in demonstrating the potential of EPR for the management of packaging waste.

As one of the major drivers of the program, Chon Buri set up a glass collecting project on Koh Si Chang, Chonburi Province. Previously, the island could sell glass packaging only in the form of cullet, which has a lower value. TBR has implemented a transportation model to enable more than 20,000 glass bottles to be sold, which has increased the revenue going to local communities by 90%.

On 6 October, 2023, at SX2023, the largest sustainability events in Southeast Asia with more than 300,000 participants, PACKBACK organized a “PACKBACK in Action” event to drive voluntary EPR and expand cooperation. Collaboration with four partner organizations was announced: PPP Plastics (Public Private Partnership for Sustainable Plastic and Waste Management), PRO Thailand Network (Packaging Recovery Organization Thailand Network), Aluminum Closed Loop Packaging System (Al Loop), and TIPMSE.

In addition, EPR is also one of the Thailand Supply Chain Network’s main agenda item. TSCN provides a knowledge exchange platform on sustainable packaging and EPR for TSCN members. The TSCN Sustainable Packaging Day was held in 2023 to create awareness and understanding about sustainable packaging design and the regulatory risks in the packaging industry as well as the business impacts. TBR, under the Bring Back–Recycle program, has been promoting post-consumption recycling among consumers since 2019. Activities include recycling campaigns, waste management training, and installing drop points for post-consumption packaging at, for example, office buildings, schools, and sports and entertainment events. In 2023, more than 122 metric tonnes of packaging such as glass bottles, PET bottles, aluminum cans, and paper were collected for recycling. Among these were 1.45 million PET bottles that were upcycled into 38,000 green rPET blankets for donation in the “ThaiBev Unites to Fight the Cold” project. Under the Bring Back–Recycle program, TBR also collaborated with multiple partners in order to create awareness of post-consumption recycling among consumers:

• Chang International Company Limited, together with partners, supported the collection of aluminum cans at the Udon Thani Songkran festival, with TBR collecting 42,813 cans and donating 21,908.58 Baht to the Prosthesis Foundation of HRH the Princess Mother.
• A collaboration with Thai Beverage Can Company Limited (TBC) on the project “Recycle for Life” collected 4.5 metric tonnes of post-consumption packaging from Big C Supercenters across the country and donated 29,458.94 Baht through the 3R Foundation.
• A collaboration with SCG Chemicals Public Company Limited (SCGC) to widen the scope of its post- consumption packaging management began at the office building of Frasers Property Thailand Group, expanding the separation of plastic packaging, such as PP, HDPE, and LDPE, so that it could be retrieved for recycling. The campaign is now in operation at 12 buildings.
• For four years in a row, TBR has installed recycling stations for PET bottles at the Buriram Marathon, one of the largest such events in Thailand, attracting more than 20,000 runners annually. 6,813 PET bottles were collected at Buriram Marathon 2023.
• At Sustainability Expo 2023 (SX 2023) held at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, TBR collaborated with partners such as TIPMSE, SCGC, Oklin (Thailand), and N15 Technology to manage the event’s waste separation and post-consumption packaging. TBR installed a reverse vending machine (RVM) to collect glass bottles, aluminum cans, and PET bottles, and waste recycling stations throughout SX 2023, with volunteers from the Faculty of Environment at Kasetsart University.

In 2023, ThaiBev implemented and explored the following initiatives:

• The Beer Product Group in Thailand has a project to improve corrugated cartons and inserts by reducing the amount of paper used by approximately 3.5% per piece and to refine the gauge of aluminum cans and lids, which can reduce aluminum use by 1.76% per piece.
• SABECO applies the concept of returnable packaging by exchanging bottles and crates and nearly 100% of glass bottles are returned to the production process. SABECO has also made efforts to downgauge of aluminum cans and reduce the weight of corrugated cartons.
• The Spirits Product Group in Thailand has a project to change the type of capseal from PVC to recycled PET on its Meridian 700 ml product, and to reuse good-condition inserts, instead of new inserts, on the 330 and 625 ml sizes.
• In the Non-alcoholic Beverage Product Group, a number of sustainable packaging management initiatives have been put in place:
  
  Sermsuk Brand has:
  • cut down the thickness of aluminum cans, which can reduce raw material usage by 37 metric tonnes per year.
  • decreased the width and length of paper backing sheets for Crystal drinking water, reducing the amount of paper used by up to 89 metric tonnes per year.
  • reduced the amount of plastic used by more than 300 metric tonnes per year through weight reduction of the PE plastic caps of carbonated soft drinks under the est brand.
  • Oishi Brand is experimenting with using perforated shrink sleeves that are easy to tear off, a tethered cap that remains attached to the bottle after consumption, as well as changing from PVC to PET labels to increase recycling feasibility. In terms of packaging reduction, Oishi has also cut down the amount of paper fiber used in production while maintaining the same strength properties.
  • In line with ThaiBev’s packaging commitment, Sermsuk and Oishi are currently studying the use of rPET bottles and are committed to launch products using with rPET on a commercial scale in 2024, as well as shrink film containing in up to 30% PCR (Post-Consumer Recycled Resins) for Oishi green tea.
• In the Food Product Group, Oishi has redesigned and reduced the plastic bowl and tray used for Oishi’s food delivery while maintaining the same quality and food freshness, so saving 50 tonnes of plastic. Oishi is also developing mono-layer material to replace multi-layer material for Oishi Eato, a Japanese-style ready-to-eat meal, and has changed the cap seal for Oishi Sauce, a Japanese-style dipping sauce and seasoning, from non-recyclable PVC plastic to PET plastic. The latter has been implemented since October 2022 and can reduce the amount of non-recyclable plastic by more than 138 kg per year.