Waste Pickers and Inclusive Recycling in Cambodia

Do you know the Edjais? They are the waste pickers in Cambodia. Today, the Edjais are the main contributors to the recycling of solid waste in the country.

Less than 10% of recyclable waste is recycled. As in many countries, waste collectors are not institutionally recognized and are caught in a very unfair value chain with 6 levels of intermediaries before reaching the processing industry located in Thailand and Vietnam.

In June 2022, the InclusEO team performed a feasibility study of an inclusive recycling project in this complex context. We are convinced that those invisible heroes of the planet could be supported through partnerships between public, private, and not-for-profit organizations.

For the past 12 years, Jean-Christophe Laugée, InclusEO’s managing founder, had the opportunity to build projects between the waste pickers and companies in Indonesia, Ghana, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt (…) to improve the collection, provide traceability and share the waste value among all the actors of the value chain.

InclusEO is committed to supporting companies in this Just Transition journey creating benefits for businesses, underprivileged communities, and the planet.