Environmental Stewardship

Sustainable Water Management

Risk

The two AMATA City Industrial Estates are in the eastern region, which is a water-stressed area. Thus, the continuously increasing demand for industrial water due to the expansion of the industrial sector with the development of the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) project, the rapid increase in the population in the area, and climate change is resulting in a water crisis. All these pose risks and challenges to the Company’s water management and may cause significant negative impacts on the Company’s key stakeholders in terms of business operations, environment, hygiene, and quality of life, as well as problems with access to water and competition for water in the area if it is poorly managed. Therefore, water and effluent are always two of the most important material topics that have been focused on by the Company and its stakeholders from the beginning.

Moreover, ineffective wastewater management or the inability to control the effluent discharged by the factories will increase the risk of effluent leakage out of the industrial estates. This not only impacts the environment, community health, and surrounding communities, but it also has a significant impact on stakeholder trust in the Company.

Opportunity

By adopting a circular economy approach and implementing innovations in water management for the industrial estates, the Company can reduce operating costs and ensure water security for both the users within the industrial estate and the surrounding communities, which rely on natural water sources. This is a key factor in building trust among stakeholders and investors and enhancing the Company’s competitiveness in the industry.

Management Approach

The Company has set a Water Management Policy and assigned the Water Management Committee, consisting of the Chief Executive Officer, a working group from the engineering department, and its subsidiaries, namely AMATA Water Co., Ltd., and AMATA Facility Services Co., Ltd., to be responsible for water management within AMATA Industrial Estates and reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer.

The Company strictly complies with relevant laws under the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand Act (B.E. 2522, 1979), the Factory Act (B.E. 2535, 1992), and ISO 14001:2015 environmental standards. Water quality is regularly monitored by laboratories registered with the Department of Industrial Works, and the operating results on water and wastewater management are disclosed in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports. The EIA Monitoring Report is regularly presented to the Environmental Quality Audit Committees of both AMATA Industrial Estates every six months. Business operators in the industrial estates are also supervised to ensure their compliance with the regulations of the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand to prevent and mitigate the social and environmental impacts.

Since its inception, the Company has planned for the sustainable use of natural resources by utilizing surface water resources as efficiently as possible and establishing the corporate goals in wastewater management not to discharge effluent outside of industrial estates, in accordance with the Zero Discharge principle. This includes regularly measuring the water quality of the raw water sources used for the factories and wastewater at various points, as well as supervising and ensuring that the water quality indicators do not exceed the legal standards, or better, that they do not affect stakeholders in the short and long term.

In addition, the Company encourages the communities surrounding the industrial estates to have a better understanding of the Company’s business operations and sustainable water management. Also, the Company provides the expertise to help improve the water management of the community by integrating the cooperation amongst the Company, government agencies, and communities.

Water Supply and Reservoir Development for Industrial Water

In the Company’s value chain, it is essential to rely on water resources to support the production process and operation of the factories in the industrial estates. Before starting business, the Company studied the social and environmental impacts of the water demand of both AMATA Industrial Estates to assess opportunities and risks from sharing water resources with the communities.

Both AMATA Industrial Estates are in the eastern region, which is a water-stressed area. The Company has conducted a drought impact assessment in the areas surrounding AMATA Industrial Estates and found that AMATA City Chonburi Industrial Estate’s main risk is raw water reserves within the industrial estate. The Company has therefore provided a backup source of raw water both inside and outside the industrial estate and maximized the reuse of treated wastewater to reduce water dependence on raw water from natural sources.

AMATA City Rayong Industrial Estate is upstream of the catchment area; the main risks are the integrity of watershed conservation and the confidence of surrounding communities in the ability to reserve and share the water supply. The Company has expanded raw water reservoirs within the industrial estate and secured a water reserve from outside while implementing the riverside and watershed forest conservation project and developing a water supply system to support communities in the event of droughts, etc.

The Company has set an industrial water supply policy and targets that there must be raw water reserves from various sources that are not less than 150% of the total consumption demand in AMATA Industrial Estates per year. In 2022, the demand for raw water in AMATA Industrial Estates was 52.17 million cubic meters. The Company has reserved raw water in 17 reservoirs with a total capacity of 66.6 million cubic meters in both AMATA Industrial Estates and provided a reserve water source outside the AMATA Industrial Estates, allowing the Company to meet more than 150% of total water demand within AMATA Industrial Estates throughout the year. As a result, the Company has never experienced a water supply shortage in AMATA Industrial Estates in the past 30 years.

Responsible Water Consumption

Wastewater Management in Industrial Estates

In the wastewater management process of industrial estates, the Company has supervised the quality of effluent discharged from industrial factories. Factories are required to separate rainwater drainage tracks from the wastewater drainage and discharge only qualified initially treated effluent into the central wastewater collection center, which is managed by AMATA Water Co., Ltd., a subsidiary that is in charge of water management within AMATA Industrial Estates.

The factories must deliver the preliminary treated wastewater with quality according to the regulations set by the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand to the central wastewater collection center of such industrial estate to perform the treatment according to the standard set under the announcement of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, B.E. 2559 (2016) and the announcement of the Ministry of Industry, B.E. 2560 (2017). Treated water from the central wastewater treatment system of the industrial estate will be thoroughly inspected by a private laboratory registered with the Department of Industrial Works and must pass all standard criteria before being reused in any forms. The Company checked the quality of wastewater discharged from the factories on a monthly basis. When the Company found that the quality of wastewater released into the central system did not meet the standards, a warning letter was sent to the factory to improve its system and to charge them the additional wastewater treatment service fee.

Circular Water Management

The Company is aware of the importance of using water resources wisely and efficiently and aims to reuse all effluent in accordance with the Zero Discharge Principle. In 2022, the Company has set a target to reduce surface raw water consumption to 59% of total raw water demand to reduce dependence on natural water sources, create balance for the environment and the community, and increase the proportion of treated water used for recycling.

The continuous improvement of wastewater treatment systems and quality control allowed the treated wastewater from the central wastewater treatment system to meet the water quality standards according to the Ministry of Industry and was completely utilized (100%). In 2022, a total of 21.2 million cubic meters of wastewater were treated by the central wastewater treatment system. The Company benefits from reusing all the treated water (100%) within the industrial estate, and 57% of the treated water was used to produce high-quality water through the Water Reclamation System, where the high-quality water produced was used to replace natural raw water in the tap water production process for industrial purposes. The remaining treated water was used in the power plants for cooling & stream turbines and in the green areas at 28% and 15%, respectively.

Since 2008, the Company has invested in developing a high-quality water production process by using a reclamation system with reverse osmosis technology and has continuously expanded its production capacity of high-quality water. The high-quality water produced was used to replace natural raw water in the tap water production process for industrial purposes. Currently, the Water Reclamation System has a total capacity of 35,360 cubic meters per day of high-quality water production, enabling the Company to reduce raw surface water withdrawals to 30.9 million cubic meters in 2022, or 59% of the total amount of water demand, equal to the 2021 proportion. This helped the Company save 76.5 million baht per year on raw water purchase costs, and this circular economy process helps extend raw water reserves by 5 months. It also reduced the risk of water shortage and could help support local communities if needed in a drought crisis. An expansion of reclamation system capacity also helped increase the confidence of the customers and local communities surrounding the industrial estates in the sufficiency of water resources and sustainable water management in the industrial estates, including reducing the negative impacts and the possibility of contamination on public water sources and the environment.

Water conservation in office buildings and common areas

The Company encourages employees in all AMATA offices to use water wisely by raising employees’ awareness of the importance of water conservation. Encourage employees not to leave tap water running while cleaning and check for water leaks in the building and surrounding areas on a regular basis. Inspect and maintain the equipment and water distribution system within the building to ensure they are always in good condition.

In 2022, the Company consumed 30.9 million cubic meters of water as a result of all activities to reduce the use of raw surface water and increase the use of recycled water, and the water consumption intensity in 2022 was 958.88 cubic meters per rai or 5,993.02 cubic meters per hectare, a decrease of 1.0% compared to 2021.

Promotion of water resource preservation among stakeholders

The Company wishes to encourage the factory operators in industrial estates, government agencies, and communities surrounding the industrial estates to have knowledge and understanding of the Company’s operations and sustainable water management guidelines, as well as awareness of the potential impact on stakeholders and the environment that may result from inefficient water management. The Company has established a Water Management Learning Center in AMATA City Chonburi Industrial Estate since 2009 to share knowledge from the Company’s water management and make it available to surrounding communities and the public to study the industrial estate’s water management model and encourage visitors’ awareness of and cooperation in water resource preservation.

Since the commencement of the Water Management Learning Center in AMATA City Chonburi Industrial Estate in 2009, the center has welcomed 368 visiting groups with a total of 11,493 visitors. The Company has targeted encouraging its key stakeholders, such as customers and local communities, to have a better understanding of water management in AMATA Industrial Estates. It is open to general visitors, and organizations that are interested in visiting the Water Management Learning Center can submit their requests to AMATA Water Co., Ltd. or AMATA Corporation, PCL. In 2022, a total of 648 visitors came to the Water Management Learning Center located in the AMATA City Chonburi Industrial Estate. The visitors were divided into 32 groups, including 3 groups of entrepreneurs within the industrial estate, 3 groups of general interest, 4 groups of students, and 17 groups consisting of central and local government agencies.

In addition, the Company employs its knowledge base to assist in the development of public water source management in community areas adjacent to AMATA Industrial Estates by integrating cooperation between the Company, government agencies, and communities in reducing and preventing the release of wastewater and waste from the community into the public water system, maintaining the quality of the water system, and improving the community’s environment.

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Sustainable Water Management