Waste Management Target and Performance
SDGs Targets
| Targets in 2025 | Progress in 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Zero Industrial Waste to Landfill | Achieving zero industrial waste to landfill on an ongoing basis | Achieving zero industrial waste sent to landfill. |
| Waste disposed Reduction | Volume of waste sent for disposal reduced compared with the historical average (2022–2024) | Volume of waste sent for disposal decreased by 47% compared with the historical average for 2022–2024 |
Challenges and Opportunities
Efficient resource consumption and reduced waste volume reflect an enhanced production process. GC’s production process has also contributed to reducing resource shortage risks, environmental impacts, and waste disposal costs
Therefore, GC has established the policy to increase capability of waste management and implement projects to reduce the waste associated with the turnaround activities and business expansion. This includes GC’s Zero Waste to Landfill. The company has also implemented the Circular Economy concept as an approach to expand its comprehensive waste management by applying innovation in recycling waste into value-added products to satisfy the needs of all relevant stakeholders. However, GC recognizes that waste management is an issue that requires the cooperation of all sectors. Thus, GC encourages all sectors, including the public, to become aware of the waste problem and to gain knowledge and understanding about the process of waste management, including waste collection, separation, recycling and utilizing resources to maximize its benefits
Management ApproachGRI 3-3 (2021) 306-1 (2020) GRI 306-2 (2020)
Commitment
GC is committed to its waste management policy and has implemented waste audits to identify opportunities for improving waste efficiency and reduce waste generation, covering hazardous and non-hazardous waste, in order to use resource efficiently throughout the value chain and to minimize waste generation. In this regard, action plans to reduce waste generation have been developed by adopting the 5Rs Principle, including Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Renewable, and Reject. GC has set up a system for waste handling process i.e. sorting, storage, transportation and disposal to manage, monitor and prevent the impacts on community, society and environment. Additionally, GC focuses on enhancing the efficiency of resources usage, and limit wastes generation to be minimum in order to reduce waste from business activities to disposal.
Currently, wastes which may impact the environment from production, maintenance and other activities are managed with effective and efficient measures that are in line with international standards, and only waste processors who are certified by the Department of Industrial Works can receive wastes from GC. In addition, GC has annually reported details of waste to related government agencies in order to ensure that wastes are managed properly and strictly complied with laws and regulations.
Waste Management Approach GRI 306-2 (2020)
GC integrates the concept of circular economy into the day-to-day business operation to optimize the use of resources, waste generation and impacts along value chain.
GC continue divert waste from disposal. In 2024, we set operation waste recovery target at 26%. Also, we achieved the target at 28%
Efficient Use of Resources
Waste Management followed 5Rs
Alternative Fuel from Waste
Zero Waste to Landfill
Resource and Waste Management
Read moreResource and Waste Management
GC exchanges surplus products, raw materials and fuel energy from production processes to add value between factories across the value chain, from upstream own operation to downstream according to relevant guidelines and the Waste Management Action Plan, targeting to minimize waste and achieve zero waste to landfill. GC has conducted research on various initiatives to work towards zero waste, making investments in innovation or R&D to minimize waste. This has contributed to the achievement of the 100-percent waste diversion from landfill since 2015, which has been certified by the Department of Industrial Works and has been in continuous implementation until today. We have also taken action to recycle waste and wastewater based on the concept of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
GC has adopted the 5Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Refuse, and Renewable) to foster an environmental culture and strike a balance between resource management and sustainable business operations through various initiatives, including ongoing environmentally friendly maintenance practices (Green Turnaround Management), which focus on efficient resource utilization and minimizing the generation of both hazardous and non-hazardous waste during maintenance activities. Circular economy principles are also applied by reducing waste at the source and repurposing waste materials to add value, thereby reducing the burden of waste disposal.
GC has also established preventive measures to mitigate environmental impacts arising from the maintenance of machinery and equipment. For example, GC began treating wastewater generating from the cleaning of equipment and machinery during a turnaround in its plants to reduce the amount of waste disposal by incineration. and began reducing the landfilling of non-hazardous waste and municipal waste by processing them into Refuse Derived Fuels (RDFs), thus maximizing their use.
Finally, GC raises employee awareness through waste reduction training programs and practice while making communications about the Company’s projects via digital media to encourage the circulation of resources and products in the reuse and recycling system, for example, Basic SHE Training and Environmental Culture by 5Rs Training, etc., as well as fostering the concept of resource efficiency according to circular economy, waste separation, and waste reduction.
GC also cooperated with employees in each area of operation in assessing and sorting non-hazardous waste and municipal waste that could be reused as fuels as well as separating waste generated in production and from offices by type and delivering it to waste disposers who re-utilized it as fuels.
Reuse Insulation
The company has continuously built on the implementation of its environmentally friendly maintenance program (Green Turnaround), focusing on the efficient use of resources and the reduction of both hazardous and non hazardous waste generated from maintenance activities. The circular economy concept is applied by minimizing waste at the source and reusing waste materials, thereby reducing the burden of waste disposal across all areas on an ongoing basis. Examples include maintaining the quality of thermal insulation so that it can be reused, through strict management and operational control, resulting in the ability to reuse insulation at an average rate of more than 50 percent.
In addition, the company has reduced the volume of wastewater sent for off site treatment outside the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate, where the treatment fee per cubic meter is relatively high, by assessing wastewater strength, such as COD and other constituents from activities, before starting maintenance work and preparing holding tanks with suitable capacity to segregate wastewater at the source according to its quality. This enables most of the wastewater to be routed to the plant’s wastewater treatment system or the estate’s central treatment system, thereby reducing the volume of wastewater requiring external treatment and lowering the plant’s wastewater treatment costs. Furthermore, in 2025 the company implemented a waste management project that groups waste according to its characteristics and specifies appropriate management methods, allowing some waste to be recovered for beneficial use instead of disposal, resulting in reduced expenses or additional income of over 2 million baht.
Average insulation recycling
The waste management project, which groups waste according to its characteristics and defines appropriate handling methods so that some waste can be recovered for beneficial use instead of disposal, helps reduce the cost of sending waste for treatment by approximately 2 million baht.
*Remark: Performance data are for the year 2015.
Reusing Waste as Alternative Raw Material
Example Projects
- Promoting and encouraging employees to segregate waste in office, e.g. segregating plastic, glass, and paper waste for recycling and segregating food waste to be used as animal feed by the surrounding community, etc.
- Carried out zero industrial waste to landfill since 2015, and extended the program to minimize solid waste disposal in office buildings by using it as Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF).
- Waste Optimization Project hosts activities include a waste management initiative that classifies waste according to its characteristics and defines appropriate treatment methods, enabling some waste to be recovered for beneficial use instead of being sent for disposal.
- Mercury Waste Management Project Managing mercury waste from the aromatics plant and refinery for use as a raw material in the production of medical instruments.
- A project to recover non-hazardous waste and municipal solid waste for use as fuel (Refuse Derived Fuel: RDF) has been implemented, expanding the reduction of landfill disposal of office building municipal waste by sorting and recovering it for use as RDF.
Waste Management Training for Employees
- Basic SHE Training GC raises awareness through training on environmental management, including the reduction of waste generation within the organization and impacts on environment and biodiversity. The training, which was organized for employees and operators at all levels, was participated by 100% of employees.
- Environmental Culture by 5Rs Training GC reinforces environmental culture and awareness, including waste reduction guidelines, among employees, by encouraging them to learn and adopt the 5Rs principle (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Refuse, Renewable) in environmental management within production process areas to create a balance between resource management in tandem with sustainable business conduct, resulting in the Operational Eco-Efficiency Project, which can be applied to the daily life.
GC focuses on the improvement of company’s waste management to be continuously effective. The overall performance in 2025 can be summarized as the following;
Waste management performance
Total Weight of Hazardous Waste Directed to Disposal
Performance
Target
| Performance | Target | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2025 | |
| Total Weight of Hazardous Waste directed to disposal (Ton) | 83,798 | 79,111 | 44,513 | 38,467 | 38,600 |
Total Weight of Non-Hazardous Waste Directed to Disposal
Performance
Target
| Performance | Target | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2025 | |
| Total Weight of Non-Hazardous Waste directed to disposal (Ton) | 11,524.67 | 7,748.32 | 3,295.15 | 2,228.20 | 2,300 |