SIG is showcasing how companies and communities can come together to turn waste into value through an innovative ‘eco-canteen’ made almost entirely from used beverage cartons at a school in Thailand.
Opened in September 2018, the canteen is a shining example to encourage more recycling by demonstrating the value it can bring to communities. The 170 children at the school can now drink their milk from cartons in a canteen made of cartons, taking a clear message on recycling home to their families.
Chatramol Intrasorn, School Director at Nikom Sang Ton Eang school said: “The eco-canteen is a great way to bring recycling to life by showing children – and their parents – what happens to the cartons after they drink their milk. Helping children understand how recycling can help the environment is really important because they are the consumers of tomorrow.”
From cartons to canteen
SIG teamed up with Kasetsart University, the food manufacturer Ampol Foods, and the Fiber Pattana recycling plant to design and rebuild the canteen at the Nikom Sang Ton Eang primary school near the company’s production site in Rayong, Thailand.
Together with Kasetsart University, one of the leading public universities in Thailand, SIG ran a competition to design a fully functional school canteen built from used and recycled beverage cartons. The next challenge was to source the materials so that it is ready for construction.
More than 1.4 million cartons went into the canteen. Fiber Pattana supplied the tiles for the roof and panels for the walls, made out of aluminium and polymers from used carton packs collected mainly from schools. The chipboard tables and chairs were produced from cartons recycled by Ampol Foods, a SIG customer that runs its own recycling plant for beverage cartons.
Increasing recycling rates is part of SIG’s mission to go Way Beyond Good – to put more into the environment and society than it takes out – and raising awareness is a key focus for the company’s community engagement activities.
Navapol Chuensiri, Head of Cluster Asia-Pacific South at SIG, said: “The eco-canteen serves as a model for SIG’s cartons and collaborative approach to bring benefits to communities and raise awareness of how recycling can help the environment. This innovative approach offers exciting opportunities for similar projects to extend positive impacts in other regions.”
About SIG
SIG is a leading systems and solutions provider for aseptic packaging. We work in partnership with our customers to bring food products to consumers around the world in a safe, sustainable, and affordable way. Our unique technology and outstanding innovation capacity enable us to provide our customers with end-to-end solutions for differentiated products, smarter factories, and connected packs, all to address the ever-changing needs of consumers.
Founded in 1853, SIG is headquartered in Neuhausen, Switzerland. The skills and experience of our 5,000-plus employees worldwide enable us to respond quickly and effectively to the needs of our customers in more than 60 countries. In 2017, SIG produced 33.6 billion carton packs and generated €1.66 billion in revenue. For more information, visit www.sig.biz.
More on Way Beyond Good: www.sig.biz/en/responsibility/way-beyond-good
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