Phnom Penh has experienced significant demographic and economic development in recent years, with a rapid rise in municipal solid waste (MSW) generation – the city now produces 3,600 tonnes of MSW per day. At the same time, the existing dumpsite at Dangkor near Phnom Penh is close to saturation, prompting the Ministry of Environment to initiate an urgent programme for the development of a new engineered sanitary landfill for the city.
To ensure the successful delivery of this new landfill, the Ministry of Environment commissioned Egis to provide full design and construction supervision services. A ‘fast-track’ design programme was initiated in February 2023, mobilising the landfill expertise of Egis Environment team with the local knowledge of Egis in Asia, and the engineering skills of our local partner SBK. At the peak of production during the detailed design phase, a dedicated team of eight engineers, architects and draftspersons, split between Phnom Penh and France, worked collaboratively on the project.
The landfill represents a major undertaking, covering a total area of 140ha, with 80ha dedicated to the landfill cells. It will provide a landfilling capacity of nearly 35 million m3, sufficient to meet the city’s waste management needs for the next 25 years. Furthermore, the landfill is designed to meet international standards, incorporating all necessary environmental protection measures, such as geomembrane lining, leachate drainage and treatment, and landfill gas management measures.
The construction works for the landfill started in November 2023, mobilizing Egis’ supervision team to control the 1.8 million m3 of earthworks, 280,000 m² of geomembrane liner, 8.4 km of roads and 5 buildings, including facilities for site operation and composting. The project also includes necessary utilities and a leachate treatment plant of 250m3/day capacity. The completion of the landfill construction works is planned for April 2025, just over two years after the design phase began.
In addition to the landfill services, Egis’ assignment covered other components of the solid waste management (SWM) system in Phnom Phen, including a 100tpd composting plant situated at the landfill site, and business model assessments for new waste transfer stations and a sorting plant for separately collected recyclable waste.
Image courtesy: KBH Construction
