Pravara Ekaraphanich, managing director of the company, told a press conference on Thursday that the project is motivated by the company’s desire to be environmentally friendly and sustainable.
Fashion should be a business that makes both consumers and the planet happy, she said, adding that the company has observed that 20% of the textiles it uses to make clothes end up in incinerators.
This waste is pointless and the leftover scraps of fabrics should be used to make something of value, Pravara said.
"We keep asking ourselves what to do with these excess fabrics so that they will not be left as textile industrial waste," she said.
As a result, the company is launching the “A'MAZE Green Society”, which is named after one of its many brands, which includes Guy Laroche.
Fast fashion has become a major concern of environmental advocacy groups globally. The United Nations Environmental Programme said “the pollution, waste, and emissions of fast fashion are fueling the triple planetary crisis”.
It said fast plastic fibres used in fast fashion are polluting the oceans, along with wastewater and toxic dyes used for manufacturing. The industry is also notorious for exploitation of underpaid workers, the UN agency said.
“There are enough clothes on the planet right now to dress the next six generations of the human race,” the Society to Save the Planet said.
Both the UN agency and the Society to Save the Planet have been urging clothing manufacturers to adopt less environmentally destructive manufacturing approaches.
Boutique New City may be taking a small step in the right direction.
Its new project links Boutique New City with potential partners that can use the waste produced manufacturing its A'MAZE brand, Pravara said.
Two firms have already signed up for the project and more partners are expected to join, she said. The two partners are wreath-mat maker Laruek and The Packaging.
Laruek takes 15% of A’MAZE’s wasted fabric to make decorative flowers for wreath mats and bag tassels. Another 5% is sent to The Packaging, which transforms the wasted fabric into a fibre that can be used to make durable shopping bags. It makes packaging, chemicals, and plastic-pellets.
The wasted fabric is made from both natural materials like cotton and synthetic materials like polyester.
Polyester, a type of plastic derived from petroleum, can be recycled into raw material for making plastic-like bags.
"This recycling process is something we couldn't imagine if we hadn't met The Packaging," Pravara said.
Puchchong Vanichjakwong, managing director of The Packaging, said it is working with Boutique New City to take polyester-fabric waste from clothing production to replace some raw materials used to make plastic pellets.
It is possible to replace a portion of the products with a standard quality set of plastic pellets prior to weaving into plastic sheets and sewing, Puchchong said.
"That's how the Mimi multi-purpose bag was born, which is strong and durable, and can be reused many times," he explained, adding that once his company had cloth-like-plastic sheets, he would send them back to Boutique New City to design Mimi bags.
Nontikarn Assarasakorn, Lareuk brand founder, said her company produces eco-friendly products, including wreath mats, and it aims to reduce waste.
A Laruek flowered wreath consists of a mat and a cushion for monks, she said.
Unlike traditional flower wreaths, the materials used are made entirely of recycled plastic and can be reused by the temple once a religious mourning ceremony has concluded, Nontikarn said.
"When I heard about the project, I offered Pravara to send 15% of the leftover strips to Laruek and use them to decorate the wreath. This not only adds more beauty and spiritual value, but also allows for the reuse of resources. More importantly, it helps reduce the amount of waste," she explained.
Pravara said she wants A'MAZE Green Society to be a long-term project.
"We would be delighted if any agencies or organisations would like to be partners in continuing to reduce the amount of textile waste. We believe that with more friends, we will be able to expand the Fabric Zero Waste Alliance to a larger area. By working together, we can help Thailand achieve its goal of becoming carbon neutral and emitting zero greenhouse gases," she said.
Last year, the incineration of the company's fabric waste produced an estimated 1.3 million kilogrammes of carbon.
Pravara said she hoped to reduce this by 300,000kg by the end of this year through the new project.
Emissions of carbon dioxide from energy consumption in Thailand rose by 1.5% in 2022 from the year before, to 247.7 million tonnes, according to the Energy Policy and Planning Office.
The industrial sector accounted for 66.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions that year, a 6.7% decrease from the previous year.
The circular economy strategic plan of the Office of National Higher Education Science, Research, and Innovation Policy Council aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by at least 30 million tonnes by 2030.