Phnom Penh, April 29, 2019 – The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) signed a technical cooperation agreement to jointly improve waste recycling in Battambang. Under the agreement, the two organizations will join forces to reduce the open burning activities and develop waste recycling in Battambang. The partners will cooperate on capacity building and community education as well as on the design and implementation of a large-scale trial for household waste segregation and transport. Existing recycling facilities will be upgraded and general recommendations to improve recycling in the city will be developed and subsequently implemented.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by H.E. Sopheap Sao, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Environment. “Solid waste is currently one of the most pressing issues across Cambodia and for the Royal Government of Cambodia. I fully support this technical cooperation agreement between UNIDO and GGGI. Together, we need to identify a sustainable way to manage waste in line with Sub-Decree 113 on Garbage and Urban Solid Waste. I hope this joint effort will be successful and serve as a model for other cities across Cambodia.”

Battambang, like many other Cambodian cities, faces challenges in waste management and air quality such as uncontrolled disposal, limited waste separation at source and open burning in sub-standard landfills. These concerns affect public health and decrease the overall livability, resilience, and competitiveness of the city. According to recent GGGI estimates, Battambang currently produces 145 ton of municipal waste per day. 75% of that waste ends up on the local landfill.

The agreement is based on two organizations’ complementary projects to tackle waste management: GGGI’s project aims to establish a business model for a sustainable supply chain for recyclable waste in Battambang, with a focus on plastic and organic waste. As such, GGGI and the National Council for Sustainable Development (NCSD) support the city in developing costed options to establish segregation, collection and transport of recyclable waste; and on-sell of products. UNIDO, in partnership with the Department of Hazardous Substances Management of the Ministry of Environment, works towards reducing the emissions of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) from the open burning of waste in Battambang by improving the equipment and technical capacity of the existing plastic recycling and organic waste composting facilities as well as by supporting the municipality with door to door collection of recyclables.

Contact Details:

UNIDO:                                                                                     GGGI:

Name: Sok Narin                                                                     Name: Karolien Casaer-Diez

Title: Country Representative, Cambodia                          Title: Country Representative, Cambodia

Email: n.sok@unido.org                                                        Email: Karolien.Casaer@gggi.org