Heng Yon Kora and CSARO
AIW Newsletter May 2011
Cambodia: Phnom Penh city is the capital of the Cambodian Kingdom and has a population of around 3 million. The city generates 1,500 Tonnes of waste on an average per day out of which 70% is wet waste and 30% is dry. Like in Indian cities, Phnom Penh's informal wastepickers collect waste from households, commercial establishments, streets, landfills, markets, containers and sell recyclables to scrap depots.Citizens separate waste into wet and dry at home, and pay CINTRI - a private company engaged for primary collection of waste, a monthly user fee ranging from 1US$-5US$ for the service. The Phnom Penh Waste Management Authority (PPWMA) transports the waste from the container to the landfill in Dangkor, also known as 'Stung Mean Chey' or 'Smokey Mountain'.Rapid population growth and inadequate, dilapidated infrastructure and services are making solid waste management in Phnom Penh a growing problem. Generation of waste in volumes greater than ever before, inefficiencies in the waste management system due to under-financing and poor management, result in waste often being thrown on roadsides, vacant land and into drainage canals within the city leading to health and environmental problems for the city. Dumping at Stung Meanchey began over 15 years ago and the landfill has reached the end of its operable life. New locations are being sought for another landfill which is expected to take a few years.2,000 registered wastepickers, including 600 child wastepickers, work at the landfill, sifting through the waste that arrives each day. Wastepickers have to pay 1.50 US$ to 2.00 US$ per day to the Dumping Manager of the Phnom Penh Municipality to gain access to waste. Working conditions at the landfill are dangerous and fires are a frequent phenomenon. Contamination of a nearby pond due to leachate seeping from the dumping ground and high air pollution are other hazards.A study of the socio-economic, working and living conditions of waste pickers in Phnom Penh revealed that 51% wastepickers are below 18 years of age, and 35% are below 15 years of age. Majority of the wastepickers are male; over a third of wastepickers households are female-headed households and the community comes from impoverished backgrounds, consisting of mostly landless migrants from rural areas.Literacy levels are just below the estimated national average of 65%, but much lower than the estimated urban average literacy of 78%. Many children claim to attend school but 68% work seven or more hours a day.Most wastepickers have little or no protection against injury and infections occurring while working. Over 80% of wastepickers interviewed for the study had suffered from some illness or injury in the previous month and 61% said they treated themselves when ill, only 1% attempted to see a doctor.The poverty line for Phnom Penh was set at approximately $111 per month per family by a World Bank Study. The wastepickers study findings indicate that 74% wastepicker families survive on less than $50 per month, which means they are well below the poverty line.Most wastepickers live in houses made of palm leaves or wood, without access to basic sanitation and half of them live on rent, without electricity. 64% households are compelled to buy water from vendors as only 2.6% have access to piped water.Most recyclables collected in Phnom Penh are processed by depots to reduce their weight and then shipped abroad for recycling. Except for beer and sauce bottles and certain types of plastic, other recyclables are exported to Thailand, Vietnam, and China.Community Sanitation And Recycling Organisation (CSARO) through many years of working with Phnom Penh's wastepicker's has listed certain basic needs that wastepickers believe must be addressed, such as protection of their human rights, food security, health facilities, shelter for wastepickers, education scholarships for their children, access to loans and protecting their livelihoods from external threats and an end to discrimination.
CSARO wastecollectors in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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