The 'Today I will not use plastic' campaign has reached almost half of the kingdom’s population. - Environment Ministry
PHNOM PENH POST (The Phnom Penh Post/Asia News Network): The Council of Ministers has suggested that the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport integrate the “Today I will not use plastic” campaign into all of the schools across the country, from the 2023-2024 academic year onwards.
To date, the campaign has reached almost half of the kingdom’s population.
In Viracheat, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of the Council of Ministers, sent a document to Minister of Education, Youth and Sport Hang Chuon Naron, requesting that he implement the campaign across the country.
Minister of Environment Eang Sophalleth recently launched the campaign, in a bid to cut down on the use of single-use plastics and reduce plastic waste. He said that in the past two-and-a-half months, nearly half of the population have joined the campaign.
He explained on Oct 31 that if just one student or one teacher or one community member joined in, then at least three other people – perhaps their father, mother, or brother – would follow suit. Therefore, almost half of the Kingdom’s residents had reduced their use of plastics.
Citing data from the capital-provincial departments of environment, the environment ministry said that from Sept 1 to Oct 30, a total of 1,861,223 students and 66,503 teachers from 3,969 public and private schools across the country had joined the campaign.
The ministry added that the workforces of 83 large factories had also committed to reduce their use of plastics.
Sophalleth said as the campaign covers the entire country, the ministry was expanding its activities beyond the grounds of schools, factories and other large enterprises.
“The success of this campaign would not have been possible without the support and participation of all relevant parties and joint efforts by every one of us. Our goal is to change the mindset of this, and future, generations,” he said.
He hoped that the campaign would solve the problem of plastic waste. This simple but powerful message encourages every Cambodian to re-consider their daily habits and decision making, in order for them to take crucial steps towards a clean, future for Cambodia.
While meeting with Sophalleth, Mona Sur, operations manager for the World Bank, said the World Bank would work with the environment ministry to reduce the use of plastics and other environmental pollutants that may affect the health of the Cambodian people, in line with the 2023-2028 circular strategy.
The minister said the ministry welcomed any development partners who were prepared to join them in their cleanup operations, along with international allies, particularly those from within the Asean region.
