International Journal of Environmental Science and Development

Abstract— In order to support circular economy principles, this study proposed alternatives to current waste management and utilization methods used by the olefin production industry in Thailand. Waste types were categorized by GRI 306-2, with energy recovery (67%) and incineration (23%) identified as the largest current waste management methods. Oil contaminated wastewater, yellow oil and caustic soda, and bio-sludge were identified as the largest categories of waste, each with the potential to be recycled in value-adding methods. For oil contaminated wastewater, hydrocyclone technology was identified for potential application. The recovery of caustic soda into process required a separation technology with high separation efficiency, and membrane filtration was preferred. Bio-sludge from wastewater treatment plants can be converted into methane gas by anaerobic co-digestion with used oil, with subsequent utilization of the methane gas in electrical production. In order to propose applicable options, each alternative technologies were evaluated by sustainable indicators. As further consideration, subsidies for specific technologies from administrative agencies can improve the technologies’ sustainability, environmental, economic, and social performance.

Index Terms— Waste utilization, sustainability, industrial wastes, olefin plant, waste management.

Khamhan Ittiprasert is with Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand (e-mail: khamkhan.itps@gmail.com). Orathai Chavalparit is with Research Program: Sustainable Management of Industrial and Agricultural Wastes for Transitioning to a Circular Economy, Center of Excellence on Hazardous Substance Management (HSM), Bangkok, Thailand (e-mail: orathai.c@chula.ac.th).

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Cite: Khamhan Ittiprasert and Orathai Chavalparit, " Sustainable Waste Utilization for the Petrochemical Industry in Thailand under Circular Economy Principle: A Case Study," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 11, no. 6, pp. 311-316, 2020.

Copyright © 2020 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).