A prospect towards circular economy in creating ELV recycling system in Thailand

Résumé:

While Thailand's automotive policies have been shifting towards electric vehicles, there are public concerns over the existing old cars on the road. In 2022, Thailand had about 18.8 million cars registered, 5.8 million of which were over 15 years old. The growing number of old cars on the road, the prevalence of illegally abandoned vehicles, and the improper treatment of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) have made the Thai government increasingly aware of the potential economic risks towards road safety and the environment such phenomena entail. This paper investigates these issues to shed light on the current development of public awareness towards end-of-life vehicle (ELVs) in Thailand and to understand the present situation in terms of the ELV supply chain. Based on a field survey with consumers and in-depth interviews with stakeholders, we found that Thai people tend to use cars for a long, time span because of inherited institutional factors, in particular the motor-vehicle tax and the absence of any obligation on behalf of car owners to deregister their cars when the reach the end-of-life stage. We employed structural equational modeling (SEM) by using maximum likelihood estimation to examine if the degree of understanding of ELVs and awareness towards proper ELV management practices have an impact on the degree of acceptance of ELV recycling programs. The results showed that both consumers’ understanding and awareness can predict the degree of acceptance of ELV policy through attitude. Raising awareness of ELVs is an important factor in enhancing their acceptance among Thai people.