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Bangkok – 25 February 2026: Marking the first-ever collaboration of three industry leaders, Taokaenoi Food & Marketing Public Company Limited, or TKN, a manufacturer of seaweed snacks distributed domestically and internationally, SCG Chemicals, or SCGC, a leading integrated polymer and solutions provider for sustainability, and Dow Thailand Group, or Dow, a global leader in materials science, have jointly announced the signing of a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to revolutionize the snack industry through the “Food-Grade Circular Packaging by Advanced Recycling Technology” project. This initiative aims to sustainably address plastic waste challenges under the concept of closed-loop recycling. This collaboration entails utilizing multi-layer packaging waste from the production processes of Taokaenoi, which was previously difficult to recycle. This waste will be processed using the advanced recycling technology of SCGC and converted back into circular feedstock. Following this, Dow will utilize the feedstock to produce new, clean, and food-grade plastic resins. These resins will then be safely used to manufacture food packaging for the Taokaenoi brand once again. It is anticipated that the packaging will be ready for commercial distribution by the end of 2026. Ms. Orrapat Peeradechapan, Chief Executive Officer of Taokaenoi Food & Marketing Public Company Limited, said, “Taokaenoi is committed to creating happiness for consumers through high-quality snacks, alongside prioritizing ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) principles by emphasizing sustainable economic, social, and environmental development. This collaboration represents a significant milestone that transforms the ‘challenge’ of hard-to-recycle packaging into an ‘opportunity’ to establish a practical circular economy. It is not merely about waste disposal, but rather about creating new value from used plastic. We do not only deliver great-tasting products, but we also aim to deliver a better world to consumers through eco-friendly packaging innovations that are clean, safe, and tangibly reduce environmental impacts. This will drive our business to grow alongside genuine sustainability.” Dr. Suracha Udomsak, Chief Operations and Innovation Officer of SCGC, said, “This collaboration reflects the capability of SCGC in utilizing advanced recycling technology to manage plastic packaging composed of multiple materials, which is difficult to recycle, and converting it back into circular feedstock. This feedstock can be used to produce new plastic resins (Certified Circular Polyolefin Resin), which possess properties and quality entirely equivalent to standard virgin plastic resins in all respects and are safe for direct food contact. As a result, the materials can be reused to manufacture food packaging for Taokaenoi. In addition, our process has achieved the globally recognized sustainability certification, ISCC PLUS (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification), throughout the entire supply chain, making SCGC the first company in ASEAN to achieve such certification. This partnership is considered a crucial step in driving SCGC’s goal of reintegrating used plastic into the circular economy system at a volume of 500,000 tons per year by 2030, through collaborations with business partners across the entire value chain.” Meanwhile, Mr. Vichan Tangkengsirisin, President of Dow Thailand, added, “As a materials science leader, Dow is proud to support this collaboration in Thailand by applying our technology to produce circular plastic resins from used flexible packaging feedstock with performance equivalent to fossil-based plastics. Dow Thailand Group’s polyethylene facility in Rayong is ISCC PLUS certified for its capability of converting advanced recycled feedstock into high quality, food grade circular resins. This initiative represents an important step toward closing the plastics loop in Thailand and advancing Dow’s sustainability ambition to transform the waste through collaboration with customers and value chain partners.” This collaboration serves as a model for the comprehensive management of used multi-layer plastic packaging. It reduces the accumulation of plastic waste in the country and decreases the consumption of new resources. This aligns with the sustainability goals of Taokaenoi, SCGC, and Dow, reinforcing the role of the business sector in tangibly driving the circular economy to build a sustainable future together.
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October 2019

Malaysia plastics associations launch white paper on the Malaysian plastics recycling industry

PETALING JAYA: (October 14, 2019) The slew of negative publicity of late on the recycling industry has put the authorised plastics recycling industry in a bad light, says the Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association (MPMA) and its counterpart, the Malaysia Plastics Recyclers Association (MPRA).

“It has portrayed Malaysia as a dumping ground for waste from developed countries, but what we are seeing are symptoms of waste smuggled in by illegal recyclers,” said MPMA vice-president C.C. Cheah.

Speaking at the launch of a white paper on the Malaysian plastics recycling industry, Cheah said without a comprehensive framework to govern the entire industry, no amount of public clean-ups would stop pollution if resources, recyclable or otherwise, continued to be mismanaged.

The white paper, he said, came about following the recent negative publicity which affected the image of the country and the industry.

“Hence, we have taken a step forward in the recovery of value from plastic waste by publishing a white paper on the recycling industry,” he said as he presented a copy of the report to Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin here.

Titled “An Advanced Plastics Recycing Industry for Malaysia”, the paper is jointly published by MPMA and MPRA, and in collaboration with Monash University Malaysia.

Taking nearly two months to be written, the paper stated that Malaysia must move into an era characterised by a modern plastic recycling industry to maximise resource recovery and reduce pollution so that the country could enter a genuine state of circular economy.

A circular economy is an economic system that aims to eliminate waste and continuously use resources for as long as possible.

Moving forward, Cheah said Malaysia must have a comprehensive look at the life cycle of plastics, from the design stage all the way to (resource) reduction, recycling and proper disposal at the end of life.

“An advanced plastic recycling industry will support an overall effective waste management system, and the industry alone cannot do it,” said Cheah, adding that there should be multiple collaborations between stakeholders such as MPRA, the government, local councils, waste contractors and so on.

He added that the plastic recycling industry had already contributed RM4.5bil to the Malaysian economy, and there was further opportunity for growth when more waste plastic was recovered as a resource that helped catalyse the development of a circular economy.

Transitioning to a circular economy would help Malaysia gain in resource efficiency, as well as create jobs and grow the economy, said Prof Pervaiz K. Ahmed, deputy head of research from Monash University Malaysia’s School of Business.

“Smart policies send strong signals to create longer term predictability for investment and encouraging the development of new markets which are important drivers of the circular economy,” he said.

The white paper can be downloaded from mpma.org.my/v4/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/White-Paper-FINALR.pdf

Source: TheStar