(Cambodia) Joined by the Ministry of Environment, Provincial Government of Sihanoukville, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN-Habitat, Climeco, ChipMong Ecocyle, partner NGOs, private businesses, national and global media, partner waste collectors, and the communities they serve, TONTOTON successfully launches its Plastic-Free Coastlines Movement in Shianoukville, Cambodia on Wednesday, February 16th, 2022.
“Plastic-Free Coastlines” is an innovative community-based solution that has managed to remove 180 tons of post-consumer, non-recyclable plastic from the natural environment and waterways, and now aims to clean 3000 tons more this year from Cambodia’s coastlines.
After speeches addressing the severity of Cambodia’s marine plastic pollution crisis by Dr. Moeko-Saito Jensen, Environmental Policy Specialist of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mr. Prak Visal, Head of Division, Division of Public Relations and International Cooperation, Provincial Government of Sihanoukville and His Excellency Kith Chankrisna, Advisor to the Minister of Environment, and National Director of the Combatting Marine Plastic Litter Project, TONTOTON Founder and CEO Barak Ekshtein presented his plastic credit program and how it helps create a community-based solution for the post-consumer-non-recyclable plastic waste.
Plastic-Free Coastinlines
Through this system, TONTOTON provides tools. That’s for local communities to take charge of their own clean home villages. While earning stable incomes under safe working conditions. TONTOTON shared its campaign “Plastic-Free Coastlines” designed to connect all participating villages into a plastic-free community that works together for a common goal: the removal of non-recyclable plastic from marine shorelines.
Plastic-Free Coastlines closes the loop in plastic waste management while simultaneously empowering local communities. All post-consumer, non-recyclable plastic waste, with no intrinsic market value, will be managed by TONTOTON’s system. It’s targeting coastal locations with the most pollution. More specifically those unmanaged by private resorts or businesses and kept out of the eyeline of tourists. Its focus is also on community activities. For example, awareness-raising, eventful community meetings, and visual branding. Not to mention, waste collector engagements, and multi-stakeholder cooperations amplifying and sustaining the impact of the program.
The event panelists included: Srey Mom, waste collector from Oh Vietnam; Sensamras Piseth from UN-Habitat, Christopher Parker from Climeco, and Sajith Edisuriya from ChipMong Ecocycle. They all shared their firsthand perspectives on TONTOTON’s program.
TONTOTON works under the Ocean-Bound Plastic Neutrality protocol by Zero Plastics Ocean, audited and certified by a third-party control body. This protocol provides a transparency order for the plastic credit claims. Also for a code of ethics protecting all the laborers in the entire supply chain.
