More than 10 million Cambodians join the fight against plastic waste and litter at local level

On 1 September 2023, the Ministry of the Environment launched a campaign to reduce the use of plastic under the slogan ‘Today, I won't use plastic bags’. To date, almost 10 million people have signed up to the initiative.

Participants include 12,199 schools, 151,187 teachers, 3,762,819 students, 31,649 monks from 1,485 temples, 85,371 civil servants and 5,675,748 workers and citizens

In addition to the first campaign, the Ministry launched a second campaign, entitled ‘Clean Cambodia, Khmer Can Do It’, on 15 May 2024. To date, 5,060,369 people have taken part in this campaign, including 5,951 schools (around 47.05%), 85,149 teachers (53.84%), 3,375,510 students (89.30%), 31,246 monks from 1,523 temples, 56,707 civil servants and 1,511,752 citizens, workers and employees. The ‘Clean Cambodia, Khmer Can Do It’ campaign encourages students, teachers, monks, local authorities and citizens to take part in weekly waste clean-up operations around homes, schools, temples and public places.

Khwai Atthia, spokesperson for the Ministry of the Environment, pointed out that these two campaigns received overwhelming support, with more than 14 million participants pledging to reduce plastic use and pick up litter. This commitment has exceeded expectations and demonstrates a collective effort by citizens, government officials, civil servants and community groups to reduce plastic waste and litter in Cambodia.

The Ministry also announced the upcoming launch of a national road-cleaning campaign entitled ‘National Roads Without Plastic Waste’, which began on 1 January 2025.

This initiative follows significant participation by various stakeholders, including leaders, local authorities and citizens, in recent street cleaning efforts. The campaign aims to ensure that national roads are clean and free of rubbish and plastic waste, in order to improve the attractiveness and hygiene of towns and villages. These efforts should improve living conditions and attract investors and tourists to Cambodia.

Atthia noted that the implementation of these strategies is aligned with the ‘Cleanliness’ pillar of the environment sector's Chakra strategy, which aims to keep Cambodia clean and waste-free. The aim is to foster a self-sustaining movement that tackles litter, reduces the use of plastic bags and promotes environmental health by improving the aesthetics of communities and public spaces. This commitment should help to cultivate a culture of cleanliness and good habits among the Cambodian population.