Recycling in Ranong, Thailand

Collecting ocean plastic in some of Thailand’s most important biodiversity hotspots

Our project in partnership with Ranong recycle

Ranong Recycle (RR) is a social enterprise supported by the Swiss ‘Foundation Jan & Oscar’ and the ‘International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’. Ranong Recycle is operating in Ranong province in the South-West of Thailand.

Ranong Recycle currently hires 6 people full time and up to 15 Moken / socially marginalized individuals / immigrants on a daily basis. Ranong Recycle has been collecting ocean-bound plastic from island and coastal communities in Ranong province since September 2019.

Ranong Recycle ships its bales of PET plastic to Tide Ocean, a mechanical recycling plant that produces food-grade recycled plastic, for sorting, washing and shredding. Once processed, these PET flakes are then exported to #tide (a chemical recycler) and local manufacturers to re-enter the plastic supply chain as recycled ocean plastic. Second Life has been working with Ranong Recycle since January 2020 to support the recovery of up to 120 tons of OBP-certified ocean-bound plastic per year.