Our social enterprise Ranong Recycle for Environment (RRE)

The aim of our project is to provide jobs and new sources of income for disadvantaged people in southern Thailand (Moken, Burmese migrants), while offering concrete solutions to combat marine plastic pollution.

In 2019, our foundation established the social enterprise Ranong Recycle for Environment (RRE) to collect ocean plastic waste in Ranong province for recycling. The plastics are purchased at a fair price from collectors and fishermen living in the coastal area and on the islands of the Andaman Sea. The collectors from the islands take their boatloads of plastics directly to our center located in Ranong city and accessible from the sea.

RRE has set up a network to collect plastics on the islands of Phayam, Chang, Saidam, Lao, Sinhai, the Surin archipelago and the coastal area of Ranong by supporting local collectors and recyclers, especially members of the Moken community link. The objective is to raise awareness of the economic value of plastics in order to encourage these communities to collect and sell them.

In 2022 RRE employs 15 local workers:

nearly 80% are women

13 people are from the Moken and Burmese minority communities

all of them benefit from social protection and stable employment, in safe working conditions and in exchange for a fair salary

7 of the team members among the young adults are provided with free accommodation,

Transparency and traceability are at the heart of our project, and essential for our partners. Since January 2020 we are conducting a social impact study to measure the social, environmental and economic impacts of the project. Since 2021, the RRE collection center is certified Ocean Bound Plastic (add link: https://www.obpcert.org/) under the label of the Non-Governmental Organization Zero Plastic Ocean. The label guarantees the collection of plastics within 50 km of the coast, but also the fair working conditions of the employees and a fair collaboration with the waste collectors.

The PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PP (polypropylene) and PE (polyethylene) bales packaged by the RRE team are sold to partners who propose solutions to the problem of marine plastics and who recognize our environmental and social impact. Our main partner is Tide Ocean Material, a Swiss start-up that transforms PET and PP into pellets and filaments made from 100% of our recycled plastic. They are used in the manufacture of sustainable and quality products, forming the final link in the implementation of a circular economy.

Between 2019 and the end of 2022, 422 tons of ocean plastic were collected and recycled, thanks to around 100 independent collectors and projects created in island and coastal communities in southern Thailand. Several beach clean-ups have also been organized to further involve local populations and to communicate about our project. RRE is now financially self-sufficient, and a minimum of 70% of the profits are used to fund our educational outreach programs in schools (insert link to Education project) as well as social benefits for our workers.

In 2021, our aim is to obtain “Ocean-Bound Plastics” certification for our plastics and digitise our traceability procedures.