Prevention and Control of Industrial Air Pollution

PROJECT DURATION

October 2000 – September 2003

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

One negative side effect of the enormous growth of Thai industry and economy from the 1970s to 1990s was significantly increased air pollution, especially in the metropolitan area of Bangkok and the industrial centers of Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Saraburi, Map Ta Put and Mae Moh. Thereby emissions of small and medium-sized enterprises amounted to over 60% of overall industrial air pollution.

The Thai-German project “Prevention and Control of Industrial Air Pollution” addressed the problem of industrial air pollution focussing on selected industrial brances such as the chemical and non-ferrous metal processing industry (e.g. colour- and solvent producing enterprises, painting and printing shops). Apart from services provided directly to Thai industrial plants, e.g. concerning evironmentally sound production and filter technologies, the project’s activities aimed at supporting the Thai administration in replacing the personnel and cost-intensive “Command-and-Control”-System which had been practiced so far by fostering the industry’s own sense of responsibility in the framework of the “Polluter-Pays-Principle”.

In this context technical directives and emission standards were developed in committees using a cooperative approach which aimed to include all relevant stakeholders and implemented at pilot scale in selected industrial enterprises.