WHA Group spearheads circular economy for sustainable growth

This shift reflects a global trend towards sustainable development and its seamless integration into various business segments of the supply chain. WHA Corporation Ltd or WHA Group has similarly embarked on developing sustainable business models.

Krailuck Asawachatroj, chief strategy officer of WHA Group, highlighted the company’s dedication to sustainable business growth in all its four business segments: logistics, industrial development, utilities and power, and digital.

In line with its mission, “We Shape the Future”, the group is committed to contributing to Thailand in the long term.

WHA’s “Mission to the Sun” initiative represents a strategic endeavour aimed at fostering new business opportunities for the group and positioning it as a technology company in 2024. Under this initiative, three projects focusing on the circular economy have been launched. They are:

• WHA Circular Innovation: A roadmap for business transformation that aims to serve as a new business model for the group under the principles of circular economy. This initiative supports the group’s net-zero target for 2050 and is divided into two groups – Circular Business and Circular Process. The first is dedicated to creating new businesses and the latter to enhancing efficiency in various internal processes to use resources more sustainably.

• WHA Waste Management: Winner at the boot camp competition, this is an initiative aimed at creating a business model within the employee group. This effort is designed to foster a “tech mindset” and transform the organisation’s DNA. Data analysis revealed that WHA’s 12 industrial estates in Thailand generate approximately 500,000 tonnes of residual materials and waste annually, with 65% of this waste being potentially repurposable, including metal scraps, paper and plastic.

• WHA Emission Trading: This project aims to establish an emission trading platform certified by regulatory bodies, akin to carbon credit sales. Leveraging this peer-to-peer energy trading project as a foundation, this initiative is designed to enhance energy cost reduction and efficient energy management, currently underway as a sandbox project.

Beyond these circular economy projects, two additional initiatives are aimed at achieving the net-zero 2050 goal:

• Green Logistics Project: This project supports the transition of commercial vehicles from combustion engines to electric vehicles, aligning with green business practices. It includes producing electricity from renewable sources for charging stations.

• Carbon Footprint Platform Project: A carbon accounting system that provides data on gas emissions, aiding environmentally-conscious businesses, such as those in the petrochemical industry within the WHA Industrial Estate Eastern Seaboard, in Rayong’s Map Ta Phut district.

“We still have 27 years to achieve the goal of net zero by 2050. So, there is an opportunity for the WHA Group to conduct sustainable business and we see the current operation as a good starting point. WHA has many more such projects to launch,” Krailuck said.