Picture a lake choked by a plant that can reportedly multiply two millionfold in just seven months. As it spreads, it blocks waterways, tangles fishing-boat propellers and eventually washes ashore to rot, sending the smell of decaying vegetation through nearby villages. Now imagine confronting this environmental menace and deciding that one possible solution is to drink it.That unlikely idea led to Mawsim, a micro-distillery in Phnom Penh. Behind it is Sunwaspa Inc, a Japanese recycling company founded in 1969 that has spent more than half a century collecting and wholesaling wastepaper in Gifu. The operation is overseen by Mawsim COO and master distiller Kenji Tsuzaki. Before joining the project, neither he nor lead distiller Ryuji Nukata had distilled alcohol.Both came from the recycling industry but shared an interest in craftsmanship and a willingness to learn from scratch. Tsuzaki was already qualified as a sake sommelier in Japan, giving him a grounding in fermentation. Developing a gin recipe, however, required the team to build its knowledge through trial and error. In 2023, less than two years after it began making spirits, Mawsim’s Tropical Citrus was named World’s Best Flavoured Gin at the World Gin Awards.FROM WASTEPAPER TO WASTE NOT