Duran leads Al Nassr past Yokohama Marinos into AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Al Ahli cruise past Buriram into AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Saudi Arabia offers condolences to Iran following deadly Bandar Abbas port explosion    Saudi Arabia welcomes Palestinian leadership reforms, appointment of Hussein Al-Sheikh    Ministry of Hajj issued over 150,000 Nusuk cards for the Hajj of 2025    Saudi Arabia deports 12,866 illegal residents in a week    Pope Francis laid to rest at historic funeral in Rome    Massive explosion at Iran's Shahid Rajaee Port injures over 500 people    SFDA clears first 44-ton medical shipment for Hajj pilgrims    Over 13 million worshipers pray at Rawdah Sharif in a year    Saudi orchestra to perform at Sydney Opera House in May    Al Hilal thrash Gwangju to reach AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Nammos Amala Resort to open soon with Saudi-Greek designs    Saudi Arabia completes 674 Vision 2030 initiatives, achieves 93% of KPIs as ninth-year milestone marked    GACA chief chairs 16th meeting of the Steering Committee on aviation's strategy    Alkhorayef praises advancements in Al-Kharj food industries sector    Saudi Theater Commission launches its Work and Learn Project in UK    The season has begun — and one comment shook us all    Average life expectancy in Saudi Arabia rises to78.8 years    Famed Philippine film star Nora Aunor dies at 71    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Turning back Thailand's tide of plastic
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 06 - 02 - 2019

PHUKET, Thailand — Staying at a hotel on the Thai island of Koh Samui in 2015, Meghan Kerrigan noticed the four bottles of water she was given every day were clogging her bin with plastic.
Outside her door, Chaweng beach was smothered in rubbish. It was then that she and Kohler brothers, Ryan and Matthew, had a "light-bulb moment".
"Instead of trying to solve the problem by cleaning the beaches every day, let's go to what the source of the problem is, and take the plastic bottle away," said Kerrigan, now 31.
In 2016, the trio founded startup company Generation Water, based on the Thai resort island of Phuket.
They partnered with Marriott, the world's largest hotel brand, in January 2017 to come up with a sustainable alternative to plastic bottles that would be commercially competitive and meet the needs of resorts and authorities.
Two years on, the South African-born entrepreneurs explained the workings of a pilot water plant at the JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa on Mai Khao beach, next to slogans saying "Save Water Drink Air" and "Made 100% from the air".
Here, in the sweltering heat, two water generators suck in vapor from the air, which then condenses into water when it hits cold coils.
The water drips into tanks, making 4,000 liters a day. It is filtered, minerals are added, and it is put into reusable glass bottles. These are placed into 445 guestrooms at the JW Marriott Phuket and neighboring Renaissance Phuket Resort & Spa.
The bottled water is also being trialed at two Marriott vacation clubs nearby.
The move is part of a wider effort on the holiday island to cut down on plastic bottles, rife in the hospitality industry, and a major problem in Asia and its travel hotspots.
In many parts of Asia, tap water is unsafe to drink, so hotel guests get complimentary water, mostly in plastic bottles.
As much as 60 percent of the plastic found in the ocean comes from five Asian nations, including Thailand, according to US-based non-profit group Ocean Conservancy.
In 2017, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific organized a forum to encourage sustainable water management on resort islands.
On Phuket, which is half the size of Hong Kong, more hotels are being built, and water is already in short supply.
Trucks navigate crowded roads as resorts without their own catchment area bring in water from reservoirs.
Phuket was the world's 11th top city destination in 2017, with 11.6 million international arrivals, according to global research company Euromonitor International.
To cope with the environmental impacts of this influx, nearly 70 hotels from the Phuket Hotels Association have pledged to cut plastic bottles and straws by the end of 2019.
Since Marriott started producing its own water four months ago, it has stopped more than 100,000 plastic bottles from entering landfill or oceans, the chain says.
It plans to expand the scheme to all Marriott resorts in southern Thailand, handing out 4 million glass bottles.
Carsten Siebert, Marriott International's director of operations for Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar, said the company understood it had "a greater obligation to operate responsibly given our expanding global footprint".
The chain has a goal to reduce water consumption per occupied room by 20 percent between 2007 and 2020.
The "water from air" technology uses 78 percent less energy than producing standard bottled water, has a lower carbon footprint, and is about a third cheaper, Generation Water says.
"The good thing is that it starts to become financially affordable," said Matthias Y. Sutter, general manager at JW Marriott Phuket.
Nor does the system rely on pulling water from the ground, rivers or lakes.
"We don't have to invest in land to secure our own water," said Kanokwan Homcha-aim, corporate social responsibility manager for the same Marriott hotel.
Guests here have reacted positively since the bottled water was introduced in September, happy that "finally a big brand made a move", she said.
They also like the taste. Michael Lawson, a lawyer from Sydney sitting at the Sala Sawasdee lobby bar, said his children were "quite picky" about water. "But it's very refreshing and they are fighting over it in the room," he said.
Downstairs in the Siam Deli, teenage student Jeremy Frydman from Melbourne said it was better than tap water at home.
One challenge for Generation Water is explaining the science behind the technology.
Many guests ask about air pollution, for example. But the water collected is clean to start with, and the technology still works if the air is polluted as only water condenses, not the air or its contaminants, said Ryan Kohler.
And with human activities emitting more greenhouse gases, the atmosphere is warming up, causing more water to evaporate, which further heats the air in "a vicious circle," he added.
The water-from-air system helps reduce this vapor, said Kerrigan, adding that it has no impact on rainfall levels.
Thailand's food and drug administration approved Generation Water last August, and the company is now expanding.
It is building a plant in Phuket, which will use solar energy to make "climate-positive" water, producing more than 20,000 liters of water per day by the end of the year. Nine Marriott resorts on Phuket are in the process of signing up, along with 30 other hotels.
Generation Water is now eyeing the rest of Thailand, and is talking to hotels in Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Maldives, Kohler said.
It also sells smaller water production units that can be used in homes, offices, classrooms and yachts.
The company's goal is to stop 1 billion 500 ml plastic bottles from entering landfill and the oceans every year by the end of 2021 — equal to supplying 3,000 hotels of 250 rooms.
As for Marriott staff on Phuket, they have "no excuse now", said Homcha-aim.
Their birthday gift from the company will be a reusable tumbler, which they can fill up with "water from the air". — Thomson Reuters Foundation


Clic here to read the story from its source.