ITOCHU, ECOMMIT to launch circular economy infrastructure in Thailand

ITOCHU Corporation, ECOMMIT Co., Ltd., and ICC International Public Company Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding last Friday to develop circular economy business infrastructure in Thailand. The partnership aims to establish a comprehensive system for collecting, reusing, and recycling clothing and household goods, starting with the Thai market and expanding across Asia.

The three organisations will begin joint demonstration experiments and feasibility studies. Based on the results, the partners intend to consider the establishment of a joint venture involving ICC, ECOMMIT, and ITOCHU (Thailand) Ltd. to formalise the collaboration.

With the growing global demand for resource circulation, Thailand will tackle the challenge of decoupling economic growth from environmental impact with the collaboraion. The partnership combines ICC’s extensive retail network in Thailand, ECOMMIT’s infrastructure for collecting and sorting discarded items, and ITOCHU’s global recycling solutions and trade networks.

A central component of the project is the introduction of PASSTO, a resource circulation service operated by ECOMMIT. The partners plan to leverage on approximately 1,100 retail stores managed by ICC as primary collection points. This nationwide network will allow consumers to drop off unwanted clothing and miscellaneous goods at convenient locations.

The partnership also focuses on supporting apparel brands within Thailand by providing end-to-end services from collection to resale or recycling. Collected items that cannot be reused will be processed into recycled materials. This includes the production of RENU, a recycled polyester brand developed by ITOCHU. Furthermore, the project aims to supply recycled cotton and raw fibres to Thailand’s automotive industry, creating a cross-industry resource loop.

Teruyuki Kawano, CEO of ECOMMIT, stated that Thailand represents a market with significant potential for circular economy development. The collaboration would build an international model for resource circulation that connects Japan and Thailand while ensuring materials are managed appropriately across Asia.