We have implemented the “Circular Economy” concept in driving our business towards sustainability. We put an emphasis on optimizing resource consumption, minimizing waste generation and maximizing resource recovery throughout our feed, farm-processing and food production.
From our feed mills, we have modified boilers to be able to use biomass from agricultural residues to substitute fossil fuel consumption. In 2019, 52% of the total energy consumption in our feed business in Thailand was renewable energy.
At our animal farm-processing and food processing plant, waste and wastewater are turned into biogas for electricity generation for our operations. In 2019, 36% of the total energy consumption in our farm business and 1% of the total energy consumption in food business in Thailand were renewable energy.
In addition, animal manure has been turned into compost for use in the agricultural sector. the Company also shares bio-fertilizer water with communities for agricultural use which helps to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers.
Furthermore, we recycle used vegetable oil from our food processing plant as raw material for biodiesel production. This helps reduce dependency on fossil fuel and prevent the reuse of oil in the food production.
As a result of our effort to minimize waste generation and maximize waste recovery, only 2% of all generated waste was disposed by incineration and landfill in 2019.
The Layer Complex Project
Since 2017, our layer business underwent an important change. The change emerged from the concept of integrated chicken egg production and improved the prevention of external diseases according to the biosecurity principle. The Company began consolidating the farms of pullets and layer chickens, an egg sorting plant, and an egg processing plant into one single area, under “The Layer Complex under the Zero Waste Concept Project.” The complex was developed by integrating the circular economy concept into the production process, from the design of the production process, to renovating machinery using environmentally-friendly technologies and innovations, production planning, and managing resources for optimum efficiency. These measures will help us to minimize waste generation, mitigate environmental impacts and build trust among communities and stakeholders. The pilot complex was built in Chana District, Songkhla Province. The Company was also able to use animal manure and wastewater to produce biogas, generating and supplying electricity to the complex in substitution of purchased electricity. In 2019, the Company expanded the project to six more locations covering all regions of Thailand. The electricity generated from biogas helped us reduce the use of purchased electricity by 59%, reduce costs by more than 79 million Baht and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 95,000 tons CO2e.
