Community-based Collection and Upcycling of Non-Recyclable Ocean-Bound Plastics in Sihanoukville, Cambodia (OBP)

This project works with polluted coastal communities in Sihanoukville, a fast-growing city on the southern coast of Cambodia, to stop plastic leakage into the environment and ocean by collecting and upcycling hard-to-recycle plastic. 

In many communities across Cambodia, which lacks a formal waste management system, mismanaged plastic waste has reached an emergency state due to a sharp rise in consumption. Refuse leaks into households, litters shorelines, and floats along waterways.  

The project, a social enterprise on a mission to turn environmental challenges into opportunities for social and economic development, aims to create a circular economy by incentivizing the community to collect all kinds of plastic - even low value plastic that otherwise would be passed by.

This project partner buys plastic waste from waste pickers who collect it from the environment, waterways, shorelines, and along the street, creating jobs for the poor and generating extra income for the community.  While this credits funds collection, the project partner goes on to sort the plastic waste and upcycle some of it into plastic boards that can be used for furniture or building materials at its fully-equipped Material Recovery Facility.  PET bottles are sold to recyclers, and non-recyclable plastic is sent for co-processing.

The increased sales of credits will help this project expand its collection to more communities and provide better income to the plastic waste collectors.