With the tagline “Refusal to use plastics starts with you,” the Youth Resource Development Program (YRDP) developed the 4Rs campaign to encourage youth and others to cut back on their use of plastic, which they think is long-term hazardous to human, animal, and environmental health.
4Rs represents – Refuse, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
More than 200 people, including members of civil society organizations, businesspeople, youths, and government representatives, participated in the campaign’s inauguration on July 17 at a private school in Phnom Penh’s Tuol Kork district.
According to Sol Lyhorng, project assistant for YRDP’s initiative to boost young engagement for policy influence, the campaign’s main objective is to encourage everyone to use less plastic, with a particular emphasis on single-use plastics.
She continued by saying that the campaign was started to promote the adoption of a plastic management policy and the “4Rs” philosophy in order to improve living standards considering how negatively plastics continue to affect both human and animal lives.
Neth Pheaktra, a spokesperson for the environment ministry, praised the initiative and stated that his ministry supported their request for a reduction in the usage of plastics.
He said,
“The Ministry of Environment also encourages individuals to participate in the execution of plastic management policies in their daily lives. In order to reduce waste and pollution, especially with plastics, we are also teaching people on garbage sorting. We kindly request that everyone avoid using single-use plastics and instead minimize, recycle, and reuse multi-use plastics.”
Currently, Cambodia produces more than 10,000 tonnes of trash each day, or more than 4 million tonnes annually. More than 20% of the waste is plastic, and 10% is solid non-organic waste. Between 65 and 68 percent of the trash is organic waste, which is biodegradable.
Source: The PhnomPenh Post
