A Sophisticated Recycling System
Refuse Disposal
Refuse that cannot be recycled is treated through Phuket’s incinerator system. Organic waste is composted and used for fertilizing the gardens. Research is being undertaken to test the viability of chipping tree trunks and branches. The chips would then be spread on garden surfaces, providing aesthetic relief, reducing water evaporation and producing humus to improve soil condition.
Sewerage Disposal
No raw sewerage is discharged into the sea from the resort complex. After being treated, sewerage and wastewater are directed into a sophisticated recycling system. The resulting water is used to irrigate the gardens. Maintaining the golf course naturally requires large amount of water, so a special system has been devised. Lagoon water left highly acidic as a result of the tin mining is treated by adding excess wastewater from the hotels, with added dolomite to raise the pH level. The results are used to irrigate the golf course, thus preventing depletion of the limited local water supply. Water to supply the hotels and other resort facilities is drawn from several freshwater lakes, and run through an on-site treatment plant.
Other Environmental Matters
Green Leaf Awards received by the individual hotels reflect recognition of Laguna Phuket’s commitment to maintaining the environment through improvement of performance and efficiency in areas such as phasing out environmentally damaging products. Day-to-day operations at the resort apply the Three Rs of green management: reduce, re-use and recycle. All resort facilities have adopted responsible purchasing policies and recycled materials are used wherever possible for maintenance, renovation and upgrading work.Each hotel has a staff education program to teach the importance of caring for the environment, and consumption of energy and water is closely monitored. Hotel staff receive extensive checklists to complete, covering such areas as waste management, energy and water management, product purchase, air quality, noise pollution and community issues.
Some relevant examples of the hotels continuing efforts include: the Banyan Tree Phuket’s decision to change all their resort buggies from gas powered to electric, not only for environmental reasons, but also to reduce noise pollution. Laguna Services Company employs a permanent team of beach-cleaners to ensure that the beach area is free of refuse and potential contamination. A channel has been constructed to connect the lagoons with the sea to prevent water from becoming stagnant. Sand is dredged regularly from the lagoons and Laguna Service Company also oversees manual cleaning of the water areas, to remove any floating debris.
The lagoons provide the possibility of travel between the hotels by boat, thus eliminating excess road traffic. Hotel boiler stacks are fitted with scrubbers to prevent air pollution and all forms of external air emission are constantly monitored to ensure the least possible amount of pollution is emitted.
The resort management do not operate motorized water sports, such as jet-skis, water-skiing and parasailing, both for safety reasons and to avoid noise pollution.