Ministry Launched Fresh Campaign to Boost Fight Against Plastic Waste

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Cambodian Ministry of Environment announced launch of a new campaign aimed at raising awareness on the need to reduce the use of plastics and promote the use of environment-friendly alternatives. The campaign was launched on April 9 in Kratie town.

According to Ken Serey Ratha, director-general of the General Department of Environmental Knowledge and Information, the campaign seeks to encourage the general public to reduce the use of plastics, by raising awareness on the harmful impacts of plastic to human health and environment. He called upon people to join efforts to save the environment and preserve it for the future generations.

An average Cambodian citizen consumes around 4-5 plastic bags per day. In the capital city of Phnom Penh, around 10 million plastic bags are thrown away every day, out of which only around 3% gets recycled. The Kratie province alone generates nearly 37 tonnes of garbage per day, with only 70% disposed of in landfills.

Last week, over 500 officials and community members joined hands to collect about seven tonnes of plastic waste in just half a day. The event was held with support from Puok district authorities and the BambooShoot Foundation. It saw collection of approximately 1,100 bags of plastic waste from six locations along the 15km long canal from the Anlong Sa basin to the west of Peam Ta Or.

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