Sustainable Plastic Management

The Group annually discloses information on the quantity and type of plastic used, reused, recycled, reduced and disposed of in the Group’s Sustainability Report. We also require the verification of the disclosed information by an independent third-party auditor.

The Group has implemented the “Sustainable Packaging” Policy since 2018 to determine the direction and framework for plastic management throughout the value chain by requiring all business groups around the world to set a common goal for 2025 to ensure that 100% of plastic packaging are “reusable, recyclable and compostable”.

The Group has expressed our commitment to eliminate the use of plastic and chemicals that cause problems to the health and environment, including non-recyclable plastic. We have also been exploring other alternative and natural materials that can replace single-use plastic.

The Group encourages investment in R&D of product distribution innovations that are socially and environmentally responsible with no single-use plastic and emphasizes on reutilization. The Group has supported and provided technical cooperation to the Thailand National Metal and Materials Technology Center (MTEC) to enhance the development of food packaging innovation that is safe for consumers.

The Group supports and promotes the EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) principle to extend the producer’s scope of responsibility and expand the network of responsibility for managing and recycling post-consumer packaging waste. Our business groups have collaborated with the Thai Institute of Packaging and Recycling Management for Sustainable Environment (TIPMSE) under the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) through the PackBack Network, which collects and reintroduces packaging into a sustainable processing system. Furthermore, we also promote separation and collection of plastic packaging for recycling through the hypermarket business.

The Group places importance on the source of materials, production, transportation and distribution through to the end of the product life cycle (LCA: Life Cycle Assessment) to assess potentials and identify opportunities of improvement which requires cooperation with plastic resin producers (upstream), converter manufacturers (midstream) and end-users (downstream) to sustainably manage a product’s life cycle.

The Group has supported and cooperated with all sectors to define packaging design standards that enable reutilization and eliminate the use of plastic packaging that causes environmental impact.

The Group recognizes the importance to promote and support awareness raising efforts to engage customers and the public in solving the problem of single-use plastic packaging by reducing, avoiding and eliminating its use, as well as opting for alternative materials and transforming plastic for various forms of reutilization.

The Group places importance on tackling the problem of plastic waste throughout the supply chain by collecting data on plastic scrap quantity while sorting and transforming the plastic scraps. We have also worked to enable microplastic detection in the production process in order to prevent plastic contamination in water, air and soil.

The Group has a policy to not support and eliminate the use of plastic packaging and single-use plastic. At the same time, we encourage relevant stakeholders to reduce, avoid and eliminate plastic packaging in accordance with the government’s policy on plastic waste management. We have also campaigned to reduce, collect and store plastic to prevent widespread pollution from plastic waste.