Magorium, a Singaporean startup, has developed a technology that can transform waste plastic into environmentally friendly road construction materials.
Plastic waste is becoming a major problem that is increasing day by day.
Although there have been campaigns to reduce the use of plastic bags in the past by promoting the use of cloth bags, fabric bags or biodegradable plastic bags for shopping at department stores, convenience stores or various stores.
But it seems that such measures do not help much because the amount of plastic waste in 2020 has increased by more than 60% compared to last year. In Bangkok alone, the total amount of plastic waste was 3,440 tons/day (37% of the total amount of waste of 9,370 tons/day) in April 2020, an increase of 1,320 tons/day from 2019 (2,120 tons/day) (an increase of approximately 62%), consisting of 660 tons/day of recyclable plastic waste (19%) and 2,780 tons/day of contaminated plastic waste (81%).
It can be seen that during the Covid-19 outbreak, the amount of contaminated plastic waste has increased compared to normal situations. This may be due to measures to stay home, stop the spread of the virus, for the nation (Work from home), online ordering, including increased food delivery orders, and the amount of waste recycled has decreased from normal by approximately 27%. — Information from TEI
If our behavior in ordering products online and ordering food delivery is still like this, the total amount of plastic waste in Bangkok alone is 1,255,600 tons per year, which will be contaminated with plastic waste of about 81% or about 1 million tons. What should we do about this?
The amount of plastic waste creates a huge problem for the environment. The main cause of plastic waste is human behavior, which makes it very difficult to solve this problem. If we can’t solve the root cause, let’s try to use this waste to solve other problems.
Our neighboring country, Singapore, also has a problem with plastic waste.
Singapore’s plastic waste problem in 2019 was 930,000 tons per year, of which only 37,000 tons, or about 4%, were able to be recycled, according to CNA.
And with the advent of COVID-19, the problem of plastic waste has increased. If there are no measures or methods to support it, Singapore will soon have to take urgent measures to reduce the problem caused by the amount of waste.
“Waste that seems worthless, instead of throwing it away, if it is brought back to create value, it may become a new business.”
Singaporean startup Magorium, which aims to develop eco-friendly road construction materials, has come up with a technology that can transform plastic waste into a (partial) alternative road material.
With Magorium’s latest technology, which has been in development for almost 4 years, it can recycle up to 6 types of plastic waste. Magorium says that their latest technology is better than other Plastic-Waste-to-Road technologies, such as MacRebur from the UK, which can only recycle 4 types of plastic waste.
“Magorium’s latest technology could help solve the world’s plastic waste problem.”
Magorium’s technology can separate plastic waste such as plastic bags, plastic water bottles, plastic straws, plastic cups, plastic forks and spoons, and plastic cotton swabs into powder, granules, and pieces before mixing them with bitumen (called Plastic-Bitumen Mix) to make asphalt for road surfaces.
Executives of Magorium, a start-up business, say that their technology for transforming waste plastic into roads can help reduce the amount of bitumen that needs to be refined from crude oil by about 10-20%. It also helps improve the durability of the road surface.
With Magorium’s latest innovation, the startup has emerged as the latest champion of Singapore’s inaugural waste-tech startup competition “WASTE 20/20”.
“The amount of plastic waste is a major problem for every country.”
Because the amount of plastic waste is a major problem for every country, the solution to the problem will rely only on changing consumer behavior or enacting laws to reduce the amount of plastic waste. It will definitely not be enough because we have already seen that the amount of plastic waste has not decreased at all.
Therefore, the government and government agencies need to support the private sector, such as companies, organizations, or start-up business groups, in promoting invention and innovation to transform or recycle waste plastics so that they can be used for other purposes or in other industries.
Doing this is a way to solve problems in many ways, such as adding value and creating jobs, generating income from waste (leftover plastic waste), reducing the amount of leftover plastic waste, being able to replace or reduce the use of materials that have an impact on the environment, reducing greenhouse gases (Greenhouse Gas) caused by the plastic waste disposal process, etc.
For our Thailand
If we turn to using Plastic-Waste-to-Road technology, the amount of plastic waste left over will probably decrease a lot.
For example, Narathiwat Ratchanakarin Road is 60 meters wide and 5.115 kilometers long. Suppose there is a project to build a new asphalt road on this road.
If we use the Plastic Waste Calculator from MacRebur from England, we will be able to reduce the amount of plastic waste from Single Use Plastic Bags by almost 37.9 million bags. If we compare it to weight, Single Use Plastic Bags will weigh about 5 grams.
If asphalt is paved and Plastic-Waste-to-Road technology is used on Narathiwat Ratchanakarin Road, 60 meters wide and 5.115 kilometers long, it will help reduce the amount of plastic waste in the form of Single Use Plastic Bags by 189.4 tons.
The consequences (if it were actually done) are:
Plastic bag waste has decreased by 189.4 tons. It may seem like a small amount, but this is only for a single road with a distance of only 5 kilometers. If this technology is used on every road, plastic bag waste will definitely decrease a lot.
The amount of bitumen used will be reduced by at least 10-20%, and it will also help improve the durability and quality of the road surface. This will eliminate the problem of frequent road damage or frequent repairs in our country.
In terms of the cost of using Plastic-Waste-to-Road with Plastic-Bitumen Mix technology, it was found that the cost may be somewhat higher (but not so expensive that it is out of reach) when compared to using normal bitumen.
But if we think holistically, considering the benefits from other aspects, such as reducing the amount of plastic waste, reducing the impact of greenhouse gases, reducing the impact on the environment, and also getting more durable road quality, this method is definitely more worthwhile.
The conclusion of this story
We must accept the vision of the Singapore government, which supports start-up businesses in finding ways to find innovations to solve environmental and social problems. In addition,
An example of Magorium is a startup business of young people who could not stand the environmental problems that occurred in their country due to the increasing amount of plastic waste. This made them want to rise up and create tangible changes by using technology as a tool to create a business to solve the problem.
For our country, it seems like it may be a long way before we can do the same as our neighboring country, Singapore. Because we cannot rely solely on the government. We may need to find allies from the private sector or organizations that aim to solve environmental problems to join hands to find ways to deal with garbage problems, environmental problems, and create businesses, create jobs, and generate income in order to lead to solving problems in the long term.
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