Today, the world is facing the challenge of rapid population growth, resulting in the ever-increasing demand for natural resources on top of accelerated environmental degradation including global warming, climate change, and excessive waste, especially plastic debris in the ocean. These issues require the involvement of all sectors to tackle these impediments.
SCG recognizes the importance of the circular economy, the key to achieving sustainable development goals that include economic, societal and environmental dimensions. We, therefore, strive to put the circular economy into practice in the business sector and spark the shift toward circular economy principles by raising public awareness and encouraging behavioral transition in manufacturing and consumption to regenerative practices through examples of the applied circular economy. We aim to promote the active participation of all sectors. The cooperation will be key to making the circular economy a reality.
The Linear Economy is based on the one-way processes of “Make-Use-Dispose” without recycling obligations. The linear economy model produces many negative impacts at a global scale in which prompts the world to change.
The Circular Economy is a regenerative economic system applied across the value chain to increase management efficiency of waste, raw materials, end-of-life products, and energy to circulate continuously in a proper closed loop system.
The Circular Economy is a new economic business model, offering a new way of looking at relationships between markets, customers and natural resources as well as harnessing the potential of emerging disruptive technologies to move from “Make-Use-Dispose” toward “Make-Use-Return.”
The goals and guidelines of the Circular Economy are to maximize the value of resources while minimizing the use of new resources by creating a series of circular approaches ranging from re-process, re-design, added value, innovation, collaboration with business and non-business related and reuse. The model is building better values and a more sustainable environment, community, society, and business.
1. Product Design
Design a more durable and longer-lasting product that facilitates material separation for recycling or reusing or product with fewer materials while maintaining the same functionality.
2. Resource Input
Utilize recycled and reused raw materials or opt for renewable resources in production and integrate renewable energy in manufacturing processes.
3. Manufacturing
Maximize the resources utilization and leverage automation to increase precision in the manufacturing process at the same time diminishing production waste and lowering water and energy usage.
4. Sale and Distribution
Promote environmentally-friendly logistics, leasing services, and sharing platform to improve sales and distribution efficiency, as well as harnessing digital technologies for data collection to aid optimization in sales and distribution.
5. Product Use
With the more durable and disassemble product plus maintenance service, the product lifetime is extended for the longest possible time.
6. Recovery
Properly process the end-of-life product with appropriate strategies to avoid landfill and keep end-of-life materials as long as possible in the production and consumption cycle by applying regenerative approaches, i.e., recycling and reusing and waste-to-energy process.
SCG Circular Way is a practice to encourage recycling behavior by emphasizing on reduced resource use, prolonged durability and recovery process for maximized benefits.
As demands for resources has grown substantially, many sectors, including government, the public sector, and the private sector, have put their focus on maximizing resource efficiency. As a result, they have embraced adaptation strategies to build sustainable growth in the long run. This can only be achieved if all sectors earnestly engaged in moving Thailand and ASEAN countries toward Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
SCG has a passion and commitment to sustainable development by incorporating circular economy principles into business operations. The Company established the Circular Economy Committee to formulate strategies and policies as well as following on Circular Economy activities at the global level and applying them to foster local-level collaboration and creating a national network. SCG is striving to develop products and services in line with Circular Economy principles with innovation on top of encouraging employees and business partners to adopt Circular Way by using resources in the most efficient way in production, usage, and recovery.
However, SCG alone cannot achieve a wide success. SCG gives priority to partnerships with all sectors to push Thailand and ASEAN countries forward to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs).
SCG has adopted the circular economy in its operations with approaches to use resources in the most efficient way in production, usage and recovery. The process will be implemented through three strategies:
The Circular Economy is not a business option but the key to achieving sustainable development goals including economic, societal and environmental dimensions.
The implementation of the circular economy will pave the way for new business opportunities to mitigate business risks today and in the future. It helps businesses increase competitive edge and prosper. The model will eventually lead to less resource dependence and create values for organizations and stakeholders.
GDP Growth
Transitioning to a Circular Economy in the business sector can help increase GDP growth and enhance the resilience of global economies.
Policy Readiness
Business and Societal Benefits