Historique

Over the last decades, Cambodia has experienced rapid growth of its population and economy, which led the surge in plastic waste. In Phnom Penh, plastic waste now amounts to more than 20% of the total volume of municipal waste (3,600 tons) generated per day, adding immense pressure on waste management and natural environment. 

Plastic waste pollution is highly damaging in terms of environmental, economic and public health impacts. In urban areas, illegally dumped plastic waste blocks waterways, clogs sewage and drainage systems, and elevates flood risks. In areas without waste collection services, plastic waste is often burned in the open or disposed at on streets, or into local waterways, which carry it to the sea. The burning of plastics releases harmful chemicals which pose risk to public health. In coastal areas, the impact of plastic waste to the tourism industry is particularly significant. Plastic waste (e.g. cigarettes, plastic food wrappers and bags) makes up 80% of the debris found on its beaches (FFI 2021), deteriorating coastal areas’ natural environment, marine ecosystems, and scenery.

According to the MoE (2015), out of the 4 million ton of solid waste generated, 63 % is collected while 29 % is illegally dumped or burned.  Around 8 % is collected informally by informal waste pickers who gather waste from landfills or streets and sell recovered valuables to intermediary persons, usually exported to Thailand or Vietnam for recycling (recently, these countries announced that they would soon ban plastic waste imports). At present, less than 1 % of plastic waste is formally recycled due to limited infrastructure, technology, or finances.

Thus, there is an urgent need to reduce the volume of plastic waste and to create an environment where waste is properly managed, recycled and recovered. 

Tackling plastic waste requires systematic changes covering the entire lifecycle of plastic from import to production, use, disposal, and recycling. Cambodia is not a major producer of plastic products and most plastic items are imported. One of the priorities is therefore to regulate the import and sales of single-use plastic. Major industries using single-use plastic like plastic bottles need to create product designs that are easily recyclable and actively support recycling, for example through an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme. Business and people need to significantly cut down the use of single-use plastic and adopt sustainable alternatives. Moreover, plastic waste needs to be sorted from other waste to enable reuse, recycling or energy recovery.

To this end, since 2018, the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) has promoted the 4Rs – Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle – framework to prevent and minimize plastic waste pollution on land and in the ocean.

Thus far, as part of regulatory measures, in 2018, the Ministry of Environment (MoE) developed the sub-decree 168 to introduce a levy on plastic bags. The MoE is currently drafting a new regulation on plastic management, covering the entire life cycle of all types of plastic. The MoE is also considering the introduction of favorable measures for plastic recycling. Moreover, the National Council for Sustainable Development (NCSD) also plans to propose an EPR scheme for Cambodia to promote the effective collection and recycling of plastic waste.

Devoirs et responsabilités

The International Plastic Management Consultant (s) is to work with national consultant(s) to provide technical assistance to the Marine Plastic project team for the following sets of activities related to plastic management.

1) Development of a sub-decree on plastic management (linked to the project activity 1.2): See Box 1 for a proposed structure of the new plastic regulation.

This work to develop a sub-decree may entail but not be limited to:  

• In close consultation with the MoE and building on already existing analyses and information materials (e.g. a roadmap for plastic management, initial lists of single use plastic items to be included in a sub-decree), conduct additional analyses to prepare an updated full set of single-use Plastic (SUPs) and other plastic items to be included in the proposed regulation along with recommended regulatory measures (e.g. bans and restrictions, taxes, incentives, product standards, certifications, and EPRs) for each type of items.

  Selection of items as well as recommended measures should draw on other countries’ best practices while reflecting Cambodia’s contexts and priorities and in consultation with the MoE.

  The initial list of SUPs may cover but not be limited to the following types of plastic:

  • Plastic bags (amendments to sub decree 168 or a new one if more than 30 % change)

  • Plastic straws and drink stirrers

  • Plastic cutleries (plates, forks, spoons, knives and chopsticks), cups and plates

  • Single-use toiletries (toothbrushes, shampoos, conditioners, lotions, cotton buds, shower cap) and other complementary items such as plastic bottles and saches at hotels

  • Sachet for mono-dose of salt, pepper or sugar

  • Plastic egg packages

  • Plastic cups and lids (both Polystyrene containers and expanded polystyrene (EPS)

  • PET bottles, EPS products consumed by workers at the garment factories and other types of factories

  • Plastic PET bottles and plastic caps

  • Beverage containers with a capacity of up to three liters

  • Food containers, i.e. receptacles such as boxes, with or without a cover, used to contain food

  • Food pakcaging made of expanded polystyrene,

  • Crisps and sweets packaging

  • Saches for noodles, shampoos, coffee

  • Tobacco products

Other types of plastic may include plastic used for electronics, agriculture and fisheries.

• Develop PowerPoint presentation(s) and report(s) to present proposed updated contents of regulatory measures for the MoE’s comments

• Update key contents and details required for the proposed sub-decree with all annexes relating to plastic waste management incorporating the MoE’s comments

• Develop an agenda, PPTs and talking points for consultation meetings and compilation of comments received from stakeholders

• Incorporate comments into updated draft(s) and final draft for an approval

2) Development of proposed measures for EPR (linked to the project activity 1.1):

• Prepare a report to present key information related to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) drawing on other countries’ best practices while reflecting Cambodia’s contexts and priorities. These may but are not limited to:

  1. Common definitions, scopes, fundamentals and objectives of an EPR scheme (e.g. how scopes of EPR have included different kinds of treatments (collection, recycling, waste to energy, incineration including the use of cement kiln) of recyclable/non-recyclable plastic materials);

  2. Types of EPR structures (voluntary vs mandatory, public vs private etc) and their benefits and challenges;

  3. Types, functions and pros & cons of different types of Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO)s (public or private);

  4. Analyze public commitments and public sector regulations with best practices from other countries (especially from ASEAN) including schemes for plastic producers to manage their products at end-of-life under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) or other take-back schemes;

  5. Identify certain types of plastics which should be included in the EPR scheme;

  6. Develop draft PowerPoint presentation(s) and report(s) to present key information for consultations and comments;

  7. Incorporate comments into updated draft(s)

• In consultation with the NCSD, identify an enabling environment for piloting and scaling-up Plastic Circularity Interventions

  1. Identify financial, technical, information and infrastructure related barriers that could hinder private sector investments and scale-up of plastic circularity;

  2. Identify key regulatory gaps that must be addressed by the government to develop scalable solutions beyond current voluntary initiatives to reduce plastic waste and increase circularity.

  3. Assess the feasibility of voluntary and mandatory EPR schemes, including the levels of fees to be posed drawing on other countries’ examples;

  4. Assess the feasibility of Deposit Refund Scheme, Refilling services and required infrastructures and networks (e.g. Unilever, AEON, Chip Mong, Total);

  5. Recommend 5 to 10 private sector companies with whom the NCSD/MoE can explore cooperation opportunities for piloting EPR scheme; and

  6. Propose strategies to engage the informal waste sector into the EPR scheme  

• In consultation with the NCSD, draft key contents and details required for proposed regulatory measures related to EPR for comments. Drafts should draw on other countries’ best practices while reflecting Cambodia’s contexts and priorities. These may but are not limited to:

• Definitions, scopes, fundamentals and objectives for the Cambodia’s EPR scheme (e.g. Scopes of EPR should refer to types of treatments for recyclable/non-recyclable plastic materials);

• Types of EPR structures (voluntary vs mandatory, public vs private etc) and Policy and Economic instruments;

• Possible establishment of Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO)s (e.g TBC);

• List of target industries (e.g. plastics manufacturing, packaging) and proposed measures (e.g. product standards, recycling targets, certification, take-back schemes, fees for products);

• Setting collection and recycling targets for different types of plastic waste and businesses;

• Strategies for separate collection for recycling (including deposit refund scheme);

• Considering options of setting specific fees for different types of plastic packaging/ lowering fees for alternative packaging based on economic assessments and feasibilities;

• Potential target waste streams for EPR in Cambodia including main producers of these types of waste;

• Strategies to include an informal sector in an EPR;

• Monitoring and evaluation; and

• Timeline for implementation and additional areas to consider

• Develop PowerPoint presentation(s) and report(s) to present draft updated contents of regulatory measures for consultations and comments;

• Develop an agenda, PPTs and talking points for consultation meetings and compilation of comments received from stakeholders; and

• Incorporate comments into updated draft(s)

3) Drafting strategies and measures to promote alternatives and plastic recycling (linked to the project activity 4.1):

• In consultation with the MoE/NCSD, conduct a market assessment of plastic recycling

• Collect data on current supply and demand volumes for waste plastics, including from imports and exports; review the state of plastic recycling in practice;

• Identify types and volume of plastic waste that can be targeted for plastic recycling;

• Identify design, technologies and scales of plastic recycling used in other countries and identify ones which are applicable for Cambodia;

• Devise strategies to increase recycling capacity of target products (waste segregation, deposit and take back schemes, engagement of informal waste pickers); and

• Assess market development potential for recycled secondary raw materials and identify enabling measures

• In consultation with the MoE/NCSD, conduct a market assessment of non-plastic-based alternatives

• Collect data on the availability of alternatives in Cambodia and in the Asia and Pacific region;

• Identify types and volume of alternative agriculture-based products that can be produced in Cambodia (e.g. bamboo spoons, banana leaves, rice straws, sugarcane-based packaging); and

• Assess market development potential and devise strategies to increase the production and sales of alternatives and enabling regulatory measures (e.g. tax incentives, subsidies)

• Identify enabling actions and measures (regulatory, fiscal and logistic measures)

• Extended producer responsibility, CSR and Polluter Pay Principle (PPP);

• Product design for recycling;

• Recycling and/or end of life options;

• Education and awareness;

• Segregation at source;

• Product fees for single use plastics;

• Harmonization of licenses and fees for waste collectors and recyclers;

• Tax incentives for increased recycling and alternatives; and

• Green products and procurement applications

• Identify up to 5 business models for plastic recycling and non-plastic-based alternatives

• Background research and feasibility assessments of plastic recycling technologies, equipment and business models applicable for Cambodia

• Provision of technical support for piloting identified priority business models

• Provision of technical inputs to refine plastic recycling business models for replication and scaling up

• Provision of technical support for developing enabling regulatory measures (linked to the activity 1.1 and 1.2)

• Development of PowerPoint presentation(s) and report(s) (in ENG and Khmer) to present key findings for consultations and comments

• Development of agenda, PPTs and talking points for consultation meetings and compilation of comments received from stakeholders

• Incorporation of comments into updated draft(s)

Compétences

Corporate competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards. 

• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

• Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education: 

Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering, Environmental Science, Environmental Management, Civil/Mechanical/Process Engineering, Environmental Law or related field.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of relevant professional experience related to environmental regulations, waste management and recycling. Prior experience working in and knowledge of Cambodia or/and the South East Asia region is preferred.

• Robust track record in conducting analytical work and development of legislation, strategies, or policies in the waste management field. Specific knowledge related to single-use plastic, plastic recycling and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a plus

• Excellent analytical and writing skills including the ability to communicate policy recommendations in a succinct and clear manner (assessed by examples of PPTs + reports)

Language Requirement:

• Fluency in English mandatory.

Interested offeror must read the Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice, which can be viewed at https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=78096  more detail information about term of references, instructions to offeror, and to download the documents to be submitted in the offer through online.

UNDP reserves right to reject any applications that is incomplete.

Please be informed that we don’t accept application submitted via email.

Interested Offerors are required to submit application via UNDP jobsite system as the application screening and evaluation will be done through UNDP jobsite system. Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file. Your online applications submission will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive an email acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application, if necessary. Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.

Interested individual offeror must submit  the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

1. Proposal:

(i) Letter of intertest explaining why they are most suitable for the work

(ii) Samples of PPT ans Reports to prove excellent analytical and writing skills including the ability to communicate policy recommendations in a succinct and clear manner

2. Financial proposal (Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP)

3. Personal CV including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references

Any request for clarification/additional information on this procurement notice shall be communicated in writing to UNDP office or send to email pheara.lek@undp.org and cc procurement.kh@undp.org . While the Procurement Unit would endeavor to provide information expeditiously, only requests receiving at least 5 working days prior to the submission deadline will be entertained. Any delay in providing such information will not be considered as a reason for extending the submission deadline. The UNDP's response (including an explanation of the query but without identifying the source of inquiry) will be posted in Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice page as provided above. Therefore, all prospective Offerors are advised to visit the page regularly to make obtain update related to this Individual Consultant (IC).