The burning of trash such as plastic bags, old wooden furniture, outdated newspapers etc. has long been a problem in Chiang Mai, its suburbs and the surrounding villages. Especially towards the end of the winter months, rubbish burning in the rural areas surrounding the city creates hazes that hovers above the rose of the north like gloomy ghosts. This annoyed two lecturers from Chiang Mai Rajabhat University to the point, where they decided to do something about it. Surasak Nummisri from the Faculty of Sciences devised a plan to get rubbish out of the bonfires and into a more constructive condition.
“We are constantly building in this city, so I thought to myself; why not make construction materials out of the rubbish instead of setting it on fire,”
the lecturer explained.
He teamed up with his colleague Somsak Boonjaeng, who specialises in ceramic technology, and together they made a master plan vis-à-vis how to mix waste materials such as broken glass, newspapers, plastic and Styrofoam with cement and create tiles, roofing slabs and building blocks.
They did the first trials in the Don Kaew sub district where they collected the usable refuse, sorted it out and brought it back to their lab, where their brain child was born. Now they are actually building a model house right at the campus out of their building materials to show the world, that it can be done.
“Our main objective has never been commercial. We want to be a beacon to others and inspire similar initiatives,”
Somsak stated.
They are now working to spread their idea to other universities by doing demonstrations and displaying their products.
For further information about the project:
Rajabhat University 202, Chang Puak Road, T. Chang Puak, Maung, 50300 Chiang Mai
Tel: 053 885 600
www.global.cmru.ac.th