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Plastic waste…is a problem that has long affected life and the environment at the global level. Each year, eight million tons of plastic waste is dumped into the sea. Besides creating a mess, this has caused many animals to die from inadvertently eating plastic. Because of this problem, Thais have created an innovation that helps revive the environment and builds motivation with rewards. Today, we’ll take you to talk with Mr.Nattapak Atichartakarn, co-founder of the Trash Lucky platform. Follow us…

The Reason Why Past Campaigns about Plastic Waste Have Not Been As Successful As They Should Be

I think it’s because we haven’t solved the problem in the entire system and we haven’t been working on this for real. We need to have a comprehensive policy beginning with promoting production of packaging made from recycled plastic, tax measures to support manufacturers to use decomposable materials, enact laws to sort or dispose of waste and modify infrastructures in storing and reducing waste disposal in landfills. Lastly, we should support recycling plants to focus on recycling domestic waste rather than importing waste.

Definition of Trash Lucky and the Waste Sorting Management System

The Trash Lucky platform allows Thai people to recycle and hope for a prize at the same time. We know how Thais like prizes. More than 20 million Thais buy lottery tickets with a total value of two hundred and fifty billion baht per year. So, we thought that exchanging recyclable waste for high value prizes might make people see more value in this waste and recycle waste with Trash Lucky. By simply sorting recyclable waste and donating it, Thai people will have the right to compete for a monthly prize of one saleung of gold and over twenty shopping voucher prizes, depending on the type of waste including plastic, glass, paper and metals. Our goal is to motivate Thai people to sort recyclable waste and reduce waste dumps into the sea or landfills.

The Inspiration that Sparked Trash Lucky

I am someone who spends a lot of time in maritime activities like diving and surfing. When I find plastic waste, I’d have to pick it up in my pocket and then dispose of it. So, I thought about how to keep this waste from going into the sea. When I thought about it, I found that people dump the waste because it has little value. So, I had the idea that making these things more valuable should change people’s behavior in the country. My goal is to increase the value of prices to millions of baht in the future. If I could be a millionaire just by sorting recyclable waste, I’d want do it.

Key Features that Distinguish Trash Lucky from Other Waste Management Campaigns

The key feature is the concept of converting waste into prizes with three steps: “Sort, Exchange and Compete”. We received funds from DEPA and NIA to create technology that will make the project go further. We used the funds from DEPA to create a platform for members to check points and recycling history and the NIA funded us to make smart recyclable waste bins to be put in residential areas and other places so that we can collect waste to manage. In short, the funds from both parties were used to make software and hardware to facilitate members.

Solutions for Environmental Problems

If we can motivate people to sort and recycle waste, we will be using natural resources effectively. When plastic waste goes into nature, it’s very difficult to decompose. Then the plastic waste breaks down into micro plastic in the food chain, like in the fish we eat or the air we breathe in. If we can motivate Thai people to not dump waste, we wouldn’t create micro plastics in the food chain and we’d be reducing health and environmental impacts. Any village, condo, community or school interested in joining the recyclable waste project and setting up recyclable waste bins can contact Trash Lucky via the @trashlucky Line account.