Recycling businesses in Myanmar are hopeful on the market potential but needs more support to grow, according to a domestic company. Electronic waste, in particular, presents a grave challenge for Myanmar’s environment as the country has no measure or recycling plants in place to manage the growing amount of electronic waste produced by an increasingly affluent population.
Yangon-headquartered RecyGlo, a recycling service company, has served more than 40 clients in the city, including the UN Myanmar office, multinationals, telecom towers and international non-governmental organisations.
This is the first registered waste management company in the country. The business began since 2017 and the services available include waste segregation, waste awareness training, waste collection service and logistic service to recycling centres and general waste to the dump site.
RecyGlo Myanmar said the business has expectations on the market growth. Their target is 1,000 clients by the end of this year. The company is currently trying to create a network with scavengers, junk shop and recycle factories as well as other stakeholders.
“This kind of service costs more money but waste can easily flow to the recycle centers. Thus, we support these businesses and everybody should get behind these recycling services,” Phone Kyaw Moe Myint, country coordinator of Trash Hero Myanmar, told The Myanmar Times.
Local businesses need to have more awareness of the importance of recycling, and policy-makers should also throw their support for the sector, according to RecyGlo.
‘Electronic waste is riskier than other types of waste.’ Okka Phyo Maung, RecyGlo
With the economy growing, the country developing and the expected consumption of electronic devices rising year by year, Myanmar will soon have to deal with a huge amount of electronic waste, which is a challenge for the environment. A proper framework and a set of policies which set out the country’s electronic waste management approach are necessary.
RecyGlo is now planning to collect and manage electronic waste in Yangon. In the future, they will reach out to other cities and eventually the whole country and provide such services.
“Later, we will have more electronic waste because mobile phones and cell phones will be used and ditched. But Myanmar still does not have a vvelectronic waste recycling factory.
“Electronic waste is riskier than other types of waste. They contain more mercury and may contain other radioactive materials,” Okka Phyo Maung, co-founder of RecyGlo, explained.
Meanwhile, the company has plans to export the electronic waste exported and setting up an electronic waste recycling plant in Myanmar, both by partnering with foreign firms.