Bangkok’s deputy governor Jakkapan Phiewngam presided over the launch of the “Koh Klang Waste Management Learning Centre: Maximise Benefits from Waste” project on Friday.

“Though there are only 56 households in Koh Klang, we hope this small community will serve as a model for other communities to join the city’s waste separation campaign,” Jakkapan said at the ceremony.

Koh Klang is a small 100-year-old community on the banks of the Phra Khanong canal in the capital’s Khlong Toei district. Comprising only 230 residents, the community has been working to change its image from a slum whose residents often dumped garbage into the canal to a neighbourhood with a beautiful landscape.

The community has been able to do this thanks mainly to waste separation stations strategically placed across the community.

The residents have also benefited from turning discarded materials into handmade products for sale, as well as using biowaste to produce biogas. This biogas fuels the community’s kitchen for 720 hours per year, saving around 9,600 baht in power bills. https://coastaleagles.com/

Jakkapan also thanked Dow Thailand for working with the Koh Klang community over the past four years to develop the waste-management infrastructure.

“Bangkokians produce around 9,000 tonnes of waste daily and the city needs to spend nearly 9 billion baht per year in waste management,” Jakkapan said. “If we can reduce total waste output, the city will be able to use the money we save for other projects, such as promoting children’s education.”

The deputy governor added that this year the city has invited over 8,700 households to join the waste separation campaign, which will help boost the efficiency of waste disposal, generate income and promote the use of resources to the fullest.