Officials at City Hall are looking for new sites in two districts to build a landfills, with the old landfill reaching capacity.
The old dump site has about 3 million tons of trash, filling 31 hectares of land. It was filled in just six years.
Officials say they want to find suitable places on the outskirts of the city that can hold the capital’s trash but won’t cause traffic jams with the number of garbage trucks traveling to and fro.
Meanwhile, piles of trash are beginning to accumulate on the streets of Phnom Penh at night, with only one company making the collection rounds. City spokesman Long Dimanche said specific sites have not yet been chosen, as environmental studies must still be conducted. “We will be doing it soon, but we are studying them,” he said.
Two sites are needed because Phnom Penh is growing, not only in population, but across a wider area, he said.
Phnom Penh Governor Pa Socheatevong said on his Facebook page that about 2,000 tons of waste are thrown out each day, 18 percent of it plastic bags, and nearly 60 percent of it food waste.
