Mrs. Piyanuch Panchapan showed the importance of community involvement to reduce garbage in Khon Kaen, and formulated a plan to further increase awareness 

1. The City

Khon Kaen Municipality (KKM) is about 450kms Northeast of Bangkok, and has a population of 120,671 (2007), and a ‘hidden’ population of 50,680 in 84 communities. 

Two bureaus of the Municipality have direct responsibility to manage domestic waste. The Bureau of Civil Works is responsible for the disposal of garbage, while the Bureau of Public Health and Environment has the responsibility to collect and transport the garbage, carried out privately. 

The area created 160 tons/day of garbage in 2008. As well as the residents, the main sources of waste are the many markets, restaurants and 7 universities and colleges. In 2007 55, 901 tons were collected inside the KKM area and 8,578 were collected outside the area. 

Khon Kaen Municipality promotes citizen involvement in order to improve waste management. Community awareness and participation are encouraged through the involvement of citizens in waste management, as well as discussions and idea sharing, surveys, and ‘mutual motivation’, such as through trips to garbage plants to study the waste management related issues faced by the city. The Municipality itself can then learn from the community on garbage management. 

Khon Kaen Municipality encourages recycling, and its policy “stop where it is started” encourages citizens to decrease the quantity of garbage at its source by separating and re-using materials. 

A specific example of this policy is the “Pig Feed Project”, which involves fermenting and decomposing food (traditionally fed to pigs), to make liquid fertilizer. Domestic garbage is mixed into fertilizer by separating food, fruit and vegetables from restaurants, markets, schools, temples and households, and making it into compost. This reduces both waste and the use of chemical fertilizer, and creates cleaner food and a cleaner environment. 

The steps of the Khon Kaen Municipality ‘Pig Feed Project’

The objective has been to increase garbage selection for usable material networks in 2008, so that garbage is decreased by 2 tons/day, with the participation of restaurants, markets, government facilities and other places that produce food remnants. Special teams collect material for liquid fertilizer and compost, and farmer groups are responsible for liquid fertilizer promotion and utilization, with Khon Kaen Municipality promoting and evaluating the scheme, as well as providing support for equipment and funds. 

Since the start of the scheme in 2005, garbage selection material has increased from only 48 tons/year, to 336 tons/year (in 2007). A target of 2 tons per day is set for 2008. 

A current problem for the municipality is the limited landfill area for an increasing amount of garbage, and the environmental and health problems caused by this limitation. A new site has not yet been found due to public demonstrations, so the feasibility of the incineration process and using energy to produce electricity is being studied. New proposals for community garbage are also being assessed, with the Central Environmental Fund and Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. 

Some issues have been solved, such as the odors and leachate flow from waste sites to agricultural land, as well as the health problems experienced by surrounding residents, but long term solutions are still lacking.

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1. The Proposed Action Plan

The Action Plan developed by Ms. Piyanuch Panchapan aims to reduce the quantity of garbage throughout Khon Kean City, by further raising the awareness of its citizens. Starting in 5 pilot communities of the city’s 84 communities, The Bureau of City Natural Resource and Environment Management will create partnerships and networks with other sectors such as the public sector, private sector and educational institutions, etc., to raise public awareness on how to reduce domestic waste, and the 3Rs program. A target is set to reduce the 150 tons/day by 10% to 135 tons/day. Each community in the program will be assessed, and those which reduce the quantity of their garbage will be rewarded as model communities. The program will then be expanded accordingly.

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Khon Kaen Action Plan Time Frame: July 2008 - June 2009

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