Analysis of household waste composition in floating villages on the Tonle Sap Lake

Abstract

Villagers living on Tonlé Sap (TS) Lake have low incomes and no access to basic public services, such as waste management, domestic water, electricity, and health care. Knowledge of the villagers’ perceptions and the composition of the waste from their boathouses will contribute to constructing a waste collection system with community participation within the framework of waste prevention and reduction. This study surveyed residents living in boathouses in four floating villages on TS Lake, Cambodia regarding boathouse waste composition to assess the status of household waste including plastic waste. The household waste survey sought to clarify the amount of plastic waste and other recyclable waste discharged from floating houses. An analysis of the boathouse plastic waste composition showed that residents of the floating villages generated 40.21 g plastic waste/day/capita, which was much lower than the 340 g/day/capita in the United States, 120 g/day/capita in China, and even 70 g/day/capita in Cambodian on average, but higher than the 10 g/day/capita in India.