UNDP Mongolia`s project supports waste recycling in Ulaanbaatar. The Turning Garbage to Gold (TG2G) project addressed both environmental degradation due to weak solid waste management and urban poverty of the ger peri-urban district residents in Mongolia`s capital city UB. The TG2G project created opportunity for over 100 migrant low income households at the ger districts to stand on their own feet and to start their own small, but sustainable businesses.

People learned how to set up their own system for recyclable waste collection in their neighborhood. They were provided with training opportunities to produce recycled goods such as brooms and benches from plastic bottles and to market those products. Miroslav Hodecek, Czech UN Youth Volunteer who served in Mongolia, became a part of the TG2G project. “We identified the most vulnerable groups at the outskirts of UB, helped them to organize themselves in groups, and to communicate with each other. Then we started to work on the project together,” Miroslav describes.