- Posted on: September 1, 2021
Technology and Innovation at Heart of Waste Summit Cambodia
For the first time, the annual event hosted by Konrad Adenauer Foundation and GIZ with support from GBC and EuroCham Cambodia is held in a fully virtual format, allowing for even more extensive expertise from all over the world to be shared on one of the most important topics for sustainable development. From September 2nd to 4th, more than 200 participants are expected to tune into the event via Zoom.
“We aim at enabling partnerships between problem-solvers, investors, start-ups and policy makers to direct attention to a topic that is often thrown aside without much regard for the opportunity that lies within”, says Tassilo Brinzer, president of the GBC. “Cambodia has a long history of recycling and reusing waste already, more out of necessity in the past than for sustainability reasons. This is changing now as the country is quickly moving ahead through its impressive economic growth of the past decades, and the expectation that it reaches upper middle-income status within the next decade. The amount of waste will begin to match that of developed countries – an additional burden on disposal organizations, and an enormous opportunity to create value: more packaging and more plastic equals more recyclable materials, while more food and household waste can be incinerated and turned into energy.”
German technology and expertise in particular could help to turn waste into business opportunity. “While Cambodia is currently facing a number of challenges in waste management, the country is also in the advantageous position of being able to choose from the latest technologies and innovative concepts on waste management that are already tried and trusted. This will likely contribute to a more sustainable decade of growth ahead. Through our networks in Europe and the world, we are able to bring the latest know-how to this Waste Summit – consolidated and channeled to the Kingdom via GIZ and its Business Scouts, as well as through German Business Cambodia, EuroCham Cambodia, and Konrad Adenauer networks”, says Christoph Janensch, the local representative of the global Business Scouts for Development Programme which is being implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
The audience will benefit from the event by gaining profound insights into the technologies and concepts already applied in Southeast Asian markets such as, for example, Thailand. There, ultra-modern test facilities almost automatically dissect waste and funnel all useable elements towards a recycling- or repurposing future, including energy generation. “Cambodia now has a great opportunity ahead to engage with a key topic of sustainability on par with global peers, and we hope that this summit once again will further the agenda to the betterment of the environment, stability of energy supplies and an overall more sustainable future”, says Brinzer.
Join us from September 2nd to 4th, 2021! To register for the event – please click here.