CAMBODIA Education and Waste Management Organisation is generating revenues of US$33,000 a year collecting organic waste for compost.

Vice President Sam Phalla said the organisation has created two dump sites to collect waste for fertiliser, with one in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district on 2,000 square metres of land, and the other on 10,000 square metres in Battambang province’s Sangke district.

The organisation has the capacity to produce between 350 and 500 tonnes of compost per year from 4,400 tonnes of collected waste, he said.

“Collecting the waste to make compost not only increases income but also helps the global environment,” he said.

The compost fetches about $70 per tonne from local organic farmers.

Kandal Province’s Natural Garden owner Som Sothearith said organic products are better for human health and normally can be sold at higher prices than vegetables grown with chemical fertiliser.

“Our clients are foreigners,” he said. “Foreign restaurants prefer organic vegetables.”

He said, however, that organic fertilisers don’t allow vegetables to grow as fast as chemical ones, which accelerate the crop cycle by about a week.