Cleanbodia: A company to watch
Cambodia is, unfortunately, not one of the cleanest countries when it comes to environmental matters. Every day, residents throw their waste into the streets, creating massive piles of garbage along the roadsides. In response to this environmental crisis, one man decided to take action by creating Cleanbodia.
Meeting Cleanbodia, the eco-friendly company
We met with one of the company’s representatives to learn more about Cleanbodia.
What is Cleanbodia?
“Cleanbodia aims to provide businesses with green, biodegradable plastic bags. It's important to understand that it’s not easy to convince Khmer businesses of the value of these eco-friendly bags, as environmental concerns are often the least of their priorities. They’re simply unaware of the impact. As a result, most of our clients are primarily expatriates who tend to be more environmentally conscious. We particularly focus on companies that consume large quantities of plastic bags, such as restaurants.”
What was the origin of the project?
“The project originated from the ASEAN Business Contest, where we were finalists. Since then, the idea has grown, and today the company has three employees, led by its founder and director, Mr. Kai Kuramoto.”
What are the plastic bags made of?
“They are made from a blend of cassava starch and plastic, which makes them biodegradable in 5 to 6 years — unlike traditional plastic bags, which take up to 1,000 years to decompose.”
What are Cleanbodia's goals?
“Our goal is to gradually increase our client base, particularly in Phnom Penh, which is significantly affected by the pollution issue, and where awareness is only just beginning to take root. We also want to take part in more events like festivals, where the demand for plastic bags is especially high.”
Does Cleanbodia have support from any partners?
“Yes, we do. We have partnerships with associations such as Go Green Cambodia, an organization that organizes what we call ‘clean-ups’ — one-off events where streets are cleaned by volunteers.”