Press Release: New Project to Bring Waste Collection Services to 25,000 Rural Cambodians in Battambang
A new initiative launched today aims to change that by bringing reliable waste collection services to 25,000 rural Cambodians and diverting at least 500 tonnes of waste each month from open burning and dumping.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BATTAMBANG, CAMBODIA, 16 September 2026 — For thousands of rural families in Battambang, getting rid of household waste can still mean burning it, burying it or dumping it in nearby waterways, farmlands and roadsides. A new initiative launched today aims to change that by bringing reliable waste collection services to 25,000 rural Cambodians and diverting at least 500 tonnes of waste each month from open burning and dumping.
The Sustainable Access and Action for Transforming Waste (SAAT) initiative - led by iDE Cambodia with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), iDE Canada and other Canadian donors, including the Cycle 5 to Survive campaign - will work with local waste businesses, households, informal waste collectors and local authorities to strengthen waste collection services in Battambang Province.
Cambodia generates an estimated 10,000 tonnes of solid waste every day, yet only around 18% of rural households have access to waste collection services. With around 75% of Cambodians living in rural areas, many communities remain without reliable services, leaving waste to accumulate in waterways, agricultural land and along roadsides, threatening the ecosystems and livelihoods that rural communities depend on.
SAAT builds on iDE’s experience in Kampong Chhnang, where its Waste Management Market Acceleration (WaMA) initiative showed that rural households are willing and able to pay for waste collection when services are accessible, affordable and reliable. Customer numbers grew from 378 to approximately 1,700, a 350% increase.
"Building on lessons from our market-based solid waste initiative in Kampong Chhnang, we believe that waste is not just a challenge for rural Cambodians; it is also an environmental and economic opportunity," said Kevin Robbins, Country Director, iDE Cambodia. "SAAT takes a proven, market-based model and puts it to work in Battambang, strengthening the local businesses and informal workers like Et- Jays who can deliver and scale this service for the long term."
SAAT will work through four interconnected areas: strengthening three local waste SMEs to improve their business operations and create 30 new jobs; generating household demand for waste collection services through direct sales and behaviour-change communication; working with local authorities to strengthen inclusive waste management governance; and strengthening 30 informal waste collectors, 70% of them women, through business incubation, grants and stronger market linkages for recyclable waste recovery.
"This is a very exciting project. Reliable waste services are critical for communities. They are important for public health, livelihoods and the ecosystems that local communities depend on," said Reto Grüninger, Director of Cooperation of SDC in Cambodia. "By investing in the market systems that deliver these services, SAAT complements our broader work on government capacity for service delivery. It helps ensure that progress reaches the communities that need it most."
SAAT is designed to complement SDC's Improved Service Delivery for Citizens (ISD) programme, which is implemented by GIZ. While ISD strengthens government capacity for service oversight, SAAT focuses on building the local market systems and business viability needed to deliver waste collection services on the ground.
Beyond establishing continuous waste collection for 5,000 households and businesses, the project serves to build evidence and key learnings for scaling rural waste management nationwide.
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Note to the editors:
About iDE: iDE develops market-based solutions that give the world's poorest people the opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty.
About SDC: The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation is Switzerland's international cooperation agency, supporting sustainable development and service delivery in the Mekong region.
For media inquiries, please contact:
iDE Cambodia
Ms. Tet Chann, Senior Communications Manager
Email: tchann@ideglobal.org
Telephone: 011 276 775
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
Ms. Ros Va
Email: va.ros@eda.admin.ch
Telephone: 089 666 091
About iDE
iDE’s mission is to end global poverty. The organization believes that catalyzing the power of local markets is the best way to do this. We work with local entrepreneurs who connect underserved, last-mile markets with products and services that enable people to move up the economic ladder. Specifically, our global strategy aims to power one million women entrepreneurs to foster prosperity in their communities for 100 million people. To do this, iDE is working in the sectors of agriculture, WASH, and nutrition across 12 countries, and to date, we’ve impacted more than 44 million people. To learn more, visit www.ide.org