Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Cambodia and its partners have successfully organized the Waste Summit Cambodia in 2021 with support from the Ministry of Environment of the Kingdom of Cambodia.  

Waste Summit Cambodia is a three-day summit with a series of webinar conferences, virtual tours, and exhibitions. The proceedings were opened by Ms. Isabel Weininger, KAS Country Representative and Mr. Tassilo Brinzer, the President of the German Business Cambodia (GBC). It was our great honor to have His Excellency Sao Sopheap, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Environment, on behalf of His Excellency Minister Say Sam Al, deliver a statement on the importance of Waste Summit Cambodia. 

The summit was initiated with the intention to create a platform for sustainable dialogue, to enable partnerships across all sectors as well as an innovative space for everyone to immerse in new business ideas and showcase the tech entrepreneurial and social approaches to innovate the waste management system in Cambodia. This year we have gathered all relevant stakeholders to come and discuss on many significant topics within three days.

On the first day of Waste Summit, we talked about marine plastic pollution, national governance and policies in waste management and sustainable practices and innovative approaches for local businesses during the Covid-19-pandemic with speakers from GIZ Cambodia, Fauna & Floral International (FFI), Plastic Fischer, the Asian Vision Institute (AVI), Ministry of Environment of Cambodia, Sunsai Nature, LUMA System, and Little Green Spark. As a highlight, we conducted an interview with a Cambodian-French photographer, Raphaël Pech, to learn about his plastic waste project series where he addresses waste problems in Cambodia through the lens of his camera. 

On the second day, we organized four discussions on topics such as sustainable packaging in the food and beverage sector, sustainable consumption and production as well as the circular economy in Cambodia, waste prevention, and innovative recycling technologies and suitable financing tools. It was an insightful discussion with speakers from diverse background such as Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), the EU Delegation, National Council for Sustainable Development, the United Nations for Development Programme (UNDP), GIZ Cambodia, Chipmong Ecocycle, etc. 

On the third day in the morning, our partner COMPED provided a presentation on “Why Organic Waste Recycling is important”? and virtual training on Composting at KAS Cambodia office. In the afternoon, as the pandemic hinder us from organizing a physical field visit, we managed to host a virtual field trip with one company in Germany (Everwave) and another in Cambodia (ChipMong Ecocycle). Followed by a virtual exhibition sharing session where companies and organizations pitch their mission and vision in waste management. 

In the evening, the Waste Summit Cambodia was officially concluded with remarks from Dr. Günter Riethmacher, GIZ Country Director and Ms. Likhedy Touch, Program Manager at KAS Cambodia. 

Stay in touch with us and see you in Waste Summit 2022!