| Author | Lay Chanthy |
| Call Number | AIT Diss. no.UE-10-04 |
| Subject(s) | Second hand trade--Evaluation--Cambodia
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| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Environmental Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Dissertation ; no. UE-10-04 |
| Abstract | International trade on second- hand products (SHPs) offers a great opportunity for reuse of products. However, this trade would facilitate efficient re use of goods and it can be a channel to transfer wastes from developed c ountries to dump in developing countries if it hasn’t controlled carefully. Cambodia experien ces in importing SHPs for several decades. Recently, a critical concern has been emer ged that Cambodia would become a dumping ground for international wastes through impor ting SHPs. Thus, this study was initiated with main objective to assess the impacts of imported sec ond-hand computers and tires (SHCTs) in terms of economic, social, and environmental aspect s in major urban centers of Cambodia to examine whether Cambodia benefits from importing SHCTs . This main objective has been achieved th rough impact identification and impact assessment. Key informant interview, questionn aire surveys, and di rect observation have been used to collect detail information about significant impacts and measures to control adverse impacts. A scaling checklist with scale score from (±1) to (±5), least important to most important impacts, was used to identify significant impacts of imported SHCTs. Multi-criteria analysis (MCA) was applied as the main tool for integrating significant economic, social and environmental impacts. A simplified ranki ng technique with a scoring system from (±1) to (±5) and a rating technique with scor e from 0 to 100 were used to value all criteria (impact aspects) and indi cators (significant impacts) into a single value for integration of impact assessment. Current importing SHCTs totally generate low positive impact in economic and social aspect but create high negative impact in envi ronmental aspect. These cause overall impact of imported SHPCs is about neutral at +0.1 and imported SHTs at high negative at (-2.83). Waste related concerns of imported SHCTs ha ve become the predominant issues, causing significant adverse environmental impact a nd worsening their overall impact. These concerns include solid and hazardous waste generation and disposal, pollution, and potential effects on human health. Thus, curr ent import of SHCTs does not really benefit Cambodia but harms the environment through their waste issues. This is due to absences of specific mechanisms and regulations on importe d SHPs that wastes can be imported into Cambodia by claiming they are SHPs. To address this problem, self-defense mechanisms have been proposed as the main measures to defend critical adverse impacts of the imports. This study presents a simplified method to qua ntify and integrate the impacts of various aspects for assessment. It also shares info rmation about transboundary waste issues that result from importing SHPs. |
| Year | 2010 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Dissertation ; no. UE-10-04 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Urban Environmental and Management (UE) |
| Chairperson(s) | Vilas Nitivattananon |
| Examination Committee(s) | Perera, Ranjith ;Shipin, Oleg ;Amin, A.T.M. Nurul |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Canadian Interna tional Development Agency (CIDA) |
| Degree | Thesis (Ph.D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2010 |