The garbage truck is music to their ears!
The cheery jingle might make you think the ice cream truck is coming, but it’s actually a garbage truck — decorated with blue birds and pink flowering trees. The jingle signals it’s arrival.
Before 2024, the rural people of Boribo district in central Cambodia didn’t have garbage pick-up. So, they resorted to burning, burying, or open dumping of their trash.
This is particularly problematic for Tonle Sap Lake, the largest lake in Southeast Asia. A lot of garbage ends up there and pollutes the water, threatening health and endangering livelihoods.
The solution to this ecosystem threat? Entrepreneurship.
Business owner Lam Samnang owns a waste collection service. He began with one old truck collecting garbage from 300 households in a central area. There was demand to expand to rural communities, but his business was struggling to earn enough money after repairs, gas, and wages were paid.
But Lam was committed, and luckily for him, iDE donors were too!
Donor support of the Paul Polak Innovation Fund provided Lam with education in business and systems management. Now he can organize and run things more efficiently. iDE also trained sales agents to educated potential customers on the importance and benefit of waste collection.
In November 2024, he was able to expand his business to rural villages and now has two trucks and eight staff that provide garbage collection to 2,000 households per week.
Lam is proud that he can support his family, provide jobs, and give people a clean and healthy environment.
That joyful jingle is now a celebration of cleaner water, good jobs, and healthier communities!
Approximately 75% of Cambodians live in rural areas with little to no access to garbage collection services.
Tonle Sap Lake provides 60% of the country’s protein intake and supports 3 million families.
70% of rural households are ready and willing to pay for garbage collection.
This project received an Ignite award through the Paul Polak Innovation Fund. Awards are made possible through generous donor support.
Watch the video below to hear the cheery jingle for yourself!