Thailand is honored to host the ASEAN Summit that takes place in June 2019 under the concept of a "Green Meeting." To promote energy efficiency and waste reduction, PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited, or GC, a leading and innovative petrochemical company committed to improving people's lives, is a Partner for Sustainability for this year's ASEAN Summit. GC will provide iPad cases that use upcycled plastic waste as their raw material for souvenirs for the 2019 ASEAN Summit attendees.

GC operates its business in line with the principles of the Circular Economy, which promotes the efficient use of natural resources to ensure they deliver the maximum benefits. The company reinforces the importance of upcycling plastic waste by applying creativity and collaborating with designers and Rayong communities' craftmanship to transform it into value-added products. The souvenirs for the 2019 ASEAN Summit are the products under GC's PE Recycle project, which GC gave two pilot communities in Rayong, the Noen Sam Rei 1 community and the Charoen Pattana community, an opportunity to take part in the company's PE Recycling project by weaving these items using the recycled PE yarn. The project transforms PE plastic waste into soft polyester thread used to make fashionable bags and iPad cases.

Ms. Yuwari Indrasri of Noen Sam Rei 1 community said she and the other participating housewives from both communities have considerable weaving expertise from weaving baskets and bags from parachute cords and straw. The PE Recycle project has helped them further their weaving skills. Also, she was glad that a GC team visited them today and showed the finished products that will be the souvenirs for the 2019 ASEAN Summit. This made Ms. Yuwari and her friends feel proud of themselves, while the additional income from weaving the iPad cases became something trivial.

Likewise, Mrs. Thongsri Salodtaku of Charoen Pattana community said she and everyone else in both communities were honored to learn that the recycled PE iPad cases that were made from the yarn woven by them will be the souvenirs for the ASEAN Summit. This made her, her family friends, and the communities proud that the communities' craftmanship will be manifested internationally. Weaving recycled PE yarn also supports environmental conservation.

The recycled PE iPad cases not only showcase the distinct weaving skills of the two communities, but also reflect individual weaving style and artistic preference of the person who created it, making each iPad case one-of-a-kind. This is the wish that Thailand, as the 2019 ASEAN Summit host, and GC, as the souvenir provider have in mind in passing not only good impression, but an awareness on environmental conservation to each Summit attendee. One recycled PE iPad case uses 36 discarded plastic bags as the main raw material. This helps minimizing greenhouse gas emissions by 1,124 grams of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to the carbon dioxide absorption from the atmosphere of 27 trees.

By hosting the 2019 ASEAN Summit, not only will make Thais proud, but another equally important aspect is that it is a great opportunity to show ASEAN neighbors that Thailand realizes the importance of environmental conservation in hope to make the world a better place.

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