Cambodia: Partnership Ready for Waste Management
The Goal:
Cambodia is partnership-ready to begin stages of waste management throughout the city. They published the series “New Markets - New Opportunities” including a booklet highlighting their hopes and history managing Cambodia’s waste. This included planned solutions to help the current waste management. The Global Business Network (GBN) Programme is promoting the market and encouraging German companies to be involved with sustainable development in targeted countries in Asia and Africa, including Cambodia. These stages include reducing the current issues within collection, disposal, recycling and other factors that contribute to the worsening environmental conditions.
The Ministry of Environment is forming a sub-decree to reduce the overall use in plastic throughout the city. This sub decree aims to regulate foam containers and single-use plastics. The ministry is encouraging more people to use bamboo straws and other sustainable alternatives to plastic.
Bamboo straws: alternatives to plastic encouraged. Sub-decree plan to ban single-use plastics. Credit: The Cambodia Times
They are working to implement general practices that will lower the amount of plastic being used. Cambodian authorities are forming a sub-decree to reduce the overall use in plastic throughout the city. Sub Decree 168 only allows plastic bags with 0.03 millimeters with a base width from 25 centimeters or 10 inches.
Issues with Solution Attempt:
The management of the issue by other successful companies will provide needed care of the current amount of waste. These future partnerships will hopefully solve the issues of Cambodia’s waste management systems. The fixed management possibly can significantly reduce the amount of plastic, in optimistic circumstances and in the best circumstances, create a stronger more effective waste management system. The solution won’t prevent this buildup of plastic waste from reoccurring, or create short term impacts to the current living situation. The current living situation is caused by many factors including the technique which plastic bottles are motivated to be disposed of. Improved waste disposal will need to be successful to truly create a clean environment and living space throughout Cambodia.
Plastic bottles are used daily by the community, due to the contaminated water. There are plastic bottles that are littered often. This root of the problem is not taken into consideration and will lead to further waste buildup.