Reducing the amount of waste that ends up in incinerators or the landfill is incredibly important for managing air quality, and soil and groundwater health. Reducing use and recycling aggressively can also have a huge impact on the amount of rubbish that is unintentionally carried by wind, rain, and city drainage systems into our oceans.
Since 2020, Sustainable Maikhao Foundation has been removing and responsibly managing litter from the beaches of Phuket including recycling as much as possible. For recyclables with a ready market like plastic bottles, aluminum cans, cardboard, and glass, we donate them to local people in the community who sell them to supplement their income. Less common objects are sorted, washed and taken to recycling partners who turn them into new products – see below. We think about these items not as rubbish, but as raw material with the potential for a new and useful life going forward.
Recent Recycling and Upcycling Uses
- Glass bottles can be crushed into sand and used for construction
- Straws can be cut-up and used for cushion/pillow filling
- Rubber flip flops can be shredded and made into new shoes and mats
- Plastic bottles, stretchy plastic bags and bubble wrap can be made into pellets and yarns for clothes and household products – check out Won Project
- Tetra Pak drink boxes can be shredded and made into roof tiles and furniture
- Polystyrene/foam can be melted down and made into insulation, window, door, and picture frames
- Hard plastic bottle caps can be melted down and made into new products – check out Save Us from Plastics
Check out what we’ve accomplished since 2020!
- 8 tons of recyclables collected
- 1,274 kg plastics recycled
- 1,870 kg glass recycled
- 148 kg plastic bottle caps