Hemaraj and Realization of Green Industrial Estates

When talking about factories and industrial areas, many people still can’t forget the picture of long blocks of grayish buildings emitting smoke fumes day and night. Though it is difficult to erase this negative visual image from the public’s perception, the truth is, that over the decades, industry has had a facelift. Manufacturers of the present day have learnt a great deal from the mistakes of their predecessors. Today, it is widely recognized that industry has to be developed in a sustainable manner, which treats the environment with care and responsibility. This change has come about not simply because it is the only option; a flourishing business and wealth won’t mean anything if the coming generations don’t have a decent planet to live on.

With this notion, Hemaraj Land and Development Plc., as a leader in land developer, made it policy from their first day of operations to ensure that their industrial estates, the surrounding environs and local communities live in harmony, believing that nothing is impossible if there is good management and practices. In understanding the environmental effects of different industries, Hemaraj has found it essential to group the appropriate clusters of companies together in the areas with a geographical setting that allows for a reasonable provision of resources to deal with the environmental care. Laying out matching infrastructure, utility capacities and regulations on sensitive routines also resolve tomorrow’s problems today. Once factories are operating, in cooperation with its customers, the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) and Hemaraj monitor the environmental parameters of all factories to safeguard the green process. Reciprocally, Hemaraj keeps its infrastructure and water treatment and waste water systems well maintained to ensure smooth environmental operations.

In terms of waste, different procedures are applied to effectively manage non-hazardous wastes and wastewater. Instead of burning non-hazardous waste, Hemaraj has chosen a more environment-friendly method -- modern sanitary landfill. Hemaraj entered into an agreement with Waste Management Siam, a world-class professional in the field, to set up a landfill site in the Hemaraj Chonburi Industrial Estate, which provides services to customers and factories on the Eastern Seaboard and nationwide.

Since 2002, Hemaraj has adopted an alternative way of wastewater treatment, Constructed Wetland. This involves using plants and bacteria to treat the wastewater. Wetlands are an environmentally friendly and energy efficient means of disposal: and the quality of the water after treatment is better than the traditional power-based system. This environmentally sensitive system has been inspected and approved by relevant authorities. Following the green concept of Reuse-Reduce-Recycle, Hemaraj makes sure the treated water is reused for gardening and cooling process in factories, helping decrease demand on fresh water, lower the demand for more expensive treated potable water and bringing the remainder of prior processes back into the productivity loop.

Because of their continuous commitment to environmental care, Hemaraj‘s Industrial Estates have received the Best Environmental Management EIA Awards from the Ministry of Sciences, Technology and Environment, and are ISO 14001 and ISO 9001:2000 certified.