Cambodia targets reuse in tourism and food
Rank 22 | Circular economy | Cambodia | SDGs 11, 12, 13
Source publication: 30 September 2026. Clock time not stated by publisher. Evidence status: Project launched; waste and emissions reductions are targets.
AI-generated representative illustration | loose travel-journal watercolour. Credit: Development Connects | Kallol Saha.
Cambodia's Ministry of Environment and UNDP announced a $2.65 million, five-year effort to reduce single-use plastics in food, beverage and tourism businesses in a release dated 30 September. The project was launched on 25 September; this week's publication sets out its design and targets. It focuses on Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Preah Sihanouk.
The programme plans to work with at least 80 hotels, cafés and restaurants and two food-delivery services. By its end, UNDP aims to avoid 19,120 tonnes of plastic waste and 74,144 tonnes of carbon-dioxide-equivalent emissions, while benefiting more than 529,000 people. Those are forecasts for the project, not reductions already measured. Activities include reuse and alternatives, regulatory work, finance for businesses and a pilot voluntary producer-responsibility scheme.
Case detail
The Global Environment Facility funds the initiative, with the Ministry of Environment and UNDP leading delivery in Cambodia in cooperation with UNEP. Planned work includes at least three regulatory measures and three financial, economic or procurement instruments. A voluntary extended-producer-responsibility pilot is intended to engage packaging businesses while formal policy frameworks develop.
Gender-responsive communication, data and coordination are also part of the design. The target to benefit more than 529,000 people includes more than 267,000 women; these are projected populations, not counted programme participants. Focusing on businesses and incentives places much of the intervention upstream of waste collection. The programme links reuse, refill and alternatives with the rules and financing needed for businesses to adopt them.
Evidence and delivery status
The project was launched on 25 September and reported on 30 September. Its five-year waste, emissions and beneficiary figures are targets. They do not describe reductions already measured. UNDP also identifies limited reliable national data on single-use plastics, making the programme's data component part of its delivery design.
Cambodia Plastic Reboot sets planned results
These figures are projected results, not achieved reductions or completed beneficiary counts.
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