Small shops and restaurants face a tripled Bangkok waste fee and don't know how to sort or measure to cut it
From October 2025, shops, restaurants and condos producing over 20 liters a day pay 120 baht per 20-liter unit, three times the old rate. The published registration steps focus on households and community groups, not businesses. Bang Khun Si Market has sorted waste into four types since 2018, cut daily waste from 1,200-1,300 kg to 1,000-1,200 kg, and vendors sell the recyclables.
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5 ways to tackle it
Hardware and sensors
Bin Meter: an ultrasonic sensor on the bin lid that shows liters against the 20-liter line
A sensor on the lid measures how full the bin is and converts to liters. An LED turns amber near 20 liters and red above, so the owner sees in real time when the shop crosses the 120 baht per unit threshold.
Build with ESP32, HC-SR04 or VL53L1X sensor, e-ink or LED strip, battery
Camera and vision
Bin Snap: photograph the open bin, see what is in it and how much you could divert
The owner photographs the bin before it is tied. Vision names what is inside, like oil bottles, glass, cardboard and food, estimates the liters and shows how many 120 baht units would be saved by sorting out the recyclables.
Build with Claude vision, volume rules per material, mobile web
Web portal
Sort Race: a two-minute game where staff sort the shop's own items into four bins
Staff play on a tablet. The items are the actual things the shop throws away, taken from the owner's photos, and they race to drop each into one of the four Bang Khun Si types. Wrong picks show why, so the whole crew learns sorting in a lunch break.
Build with React, drag-and-drop, owner photos, simple leaderboard
Web portal
Bin Sign Maker: print bin labels with photos of your shop's own trash
The owner photographs what the shop throws away and the tool generates A4 signs per bin, with real pictures and Thai text, ready to print and tape on. Staff know where things go without being told every day.
Build with Claude vision, HTML to PDF, printable template
Data and maps
Buyer Map: who nearby pays for your used oil, glass and cardboard
The owner enters what they have and the map lists nearby buyers with price per kilo, pickup times and phone numbers, so sorted waste becomes income like the Bang Khun Si vendors.
Build with Public recycler directories, OpenStreetMap, Next.js, phone-call links
What people reported
Fee tiers: premises over 20 L/day up to 1 cubic meter (shops, restaurants, condos) pay 120 baht per 20 L, tripled; households 60 vs 20 baht; registration and verification steps focus on households and community groups.
enviliance.comBMA release on Bang Khun Si Market: four-way sorting since 2018, daily waste 1,200-1,300 kg down to 1,000-1,200 kg, vendors sell sorted recyclables; deputy governor says better sorting can lower disposal costs.
pr-bangkok.com