Cambodian "recycler" turns tons of plastic bottles into brooms (5 photos)

In a small warehouse in Cambodia's capital, a group of workers transform waste plastic bottles into ribbons that become broom bristles. They produce 500 pieces per day.





Over the past 11 months, they have been recycling about 40 tonnes of discarded plastic bottles, about 5,000 bottles a day, "upcycling" them into brooms, which they say are more durable than regular brushes.



They sell for 10,000 riel ($2.50) and 15,000 riel ($3.75) each.

Plastic strips from empty bottles are bundled together by machine, then softened in hot water and cut evenly for sewing with metal wire into the ends of a bamboo stick.





Cambodian entrepreneur Khas Kea, 41, wants to reduce plastic pollution in his community, a city that generates up to 38,000 tons of all types of waste every day, according to the environment department.



About a fifth of this is single-use plastic that ends up in landfills and waterways.