Key Takeaways
A new landfill and wastewater treatment plant in Cambodia’s western province of Pursat was completed in late June 2023, offering climate-resilient solid waste and wastewater management to reduce contamination of the country’s largest lake, the Boeung Tonle Sap, and alleviate related public health challenges.
“Pursat is a flood-prone province along Boeung Tonle Sap Lake. When the seasonal floods retreat from Pursat town, they take with them the town’s solid waste contaminating farmland and the lake waters,” said Ministry of Public Works and Transport Undersecretary of State Vong Pisith. “I believe the new controlled landfill and wastewater treatment plant will transform the image of Pursat into a town that no longer faces solid waste management issues and no longer contaminates the Boeung Tonle Sap Lake. It will sustainably promote the town’s cleanliness.”
The new landfill cells can store up to 140,000 cubic meters of solid waste, allowing its disposal not only from the provincial town of Pursat but also nearby districts within the province, said the town’s Deputy Governor, Bung Tainglay. With that capacity, they can meet local waste disposal needs for at least 15 years. Its effectiveness will last longer, with increased public awareness of waste separation and potential private investments in recycling.
The new facilities were developed through the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Integrated Urban Environmental Management in the Tonle Sap Basin Project, designed to improve urban services and enhance climate change resilience in the Pursat province and neighboring Kampong Chhnang municipality, both situated along the Tonle Sap.
The project was financed by $5.6 million in counterpart funds from the Government of Cambodia and community contributions, a $37.9 million loan from ADB, and a $5 million loan and $5 million grant cofinanced from the Strategic Climate Fund, which is a trust fund to finance pilot innovative approaches or to scale-up activities aimed at specific climate change challenges or sectoral responses.
This project is under the first phase of the ADB’s ongoing environmental management intervention program in the Tonle Sap Basin. The second phase is developing similar facilities in the neighboring towns of Battambang, Serei Saophoan, and Stueng Saen.
The controlled landfill in Kampong Chhnang was completed at the same time as the one in Pursat, while the wastewater treatment facilities in Kampong Chhnang are under construction and expected to be completed in 2025.
“This project impacts the health of communities by preventing diseases caused by mismanaged solid waste and wastewater. It will have a positive impact on the environment by preventing waste from contaminating the rich biodiversity of the Boeung Tonle Sap Lake, on which several livelihoods depend. This small project will have large gains in waste recycling as a climate-friendly solution,” said ADB Country Director for Cambodia Jyotsana Varma.
