On February 9, 2021 at the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation
Dr. Narong Sirilertworakul, President of NSTDA, Dr. Wonnop Visessanguan, Executive Director of BIOTEC, Dr. Julathep Kajornchaiyakul, Executive Director of MTEC, Dr. Chai Wutiwiwatchai, Executive Director of NECTEC, and Dr. Wannee Chinsirikul, Executive Director of NANATEC had joined a press conference in NSTDA Beyond Limits: 3 Decades of Impacts.
Dr. Julathep Kajornchaiyakul, Executive Director of MTEC, said that MTEC places importance on developing research to create practical applications that have positive socio-economic impacts by cooperating with partners who will translate the research findings into practical applications. For example, rubber, a country’s economic crop with highly competitive potential has played an important role in driving the economy in accordance with the BCG Economy Model. Therefore, MTEC’s rubber research goal is to focus on the manufacturing sector by assisting farmers and industries from upstream to downstream levels to produce practical products, thus creating an impact on the economy of the country that worth more than 10 billion baht.
Fresh latex and concentrated latex are treated with various substances produced from eco-friendly technology, such as fresh latex preservatives for rubber sheet processing to reduce the residual pollution in rubber plantation area of more than 3,700 rai and concentrated latex for mixing with asphalt cement for road construction to be used to replace a commercial latex for paved roads construction for more than 4,610 kilometers in 73 provinces in Thailand. Furthermore, reusing the rubber content from waste and by-product in the concentrated latex industry helps generate more income for the concentrated latex factories and, at the same time, help improve Thai concentrated latex industries to be Zero Rubber Waste Industries. This goal is accomplished by developing rubber formulas for high-quality rubber products to meet the needs of the industry, pass the standard requirement with the competitive production cost, and help solve problems for more than 50 companies.
In 2021, there are researches in the testing stage of the industrial level and ready for technology transfer, such as latex stabilizer that helps reduce odor problems, the reduction of protein content in rubber glove by cooperating with the Rubber Authority of Thailand to expand market opportunities of Thai rubber glove industries, and new rubber products. However, the rubber production process throughout the supply chain must be aware of the environmental pollution. MTEC research team, therefore, has developed a new rubber production scheme called “Masterbatch”, a natural rubber compound filler to support the rubber production. The research team has been playing a vital role in the implementation of rubber product standards for over ten years to help support the product development of Thai entrepreneurs to be accepted by both domestic and international markets.