Siem Reap

Over 100 million plastic bottles are discarded in Cambodia every year; over 10 million plastic bags A DAY are used in Phnom Penh alone! In major urban centres, local authorities collect rubbish, including plastic, and send it to landfill. In rural Cambodia, plastic waste either lays on the ground for years or gets burnt. A stunning countryside that’s polluted with plastic that no one wants.

PC is partnering with the Cambodia Rural Students Trust (CRST), an NGO based in Siem Reap, Cambodia, with the mission of ‘Breaking the poverty cycle through education’. What makes this organisation unique is that it’s entirely managed by its students, with extensive mentoring from overseas professionals. CRST has been providing high school and university education to bright students from poor families since 2011, as well as business and leadership education through it’s educational-social-enterprises. 

Project R is CRST’s ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Plastic for Education’ program – providing scholarships to rural high school students as a reward for becoming Environmental Ambassadors! Project R includes environmental education in rural high schools and villages, leading to the collection of plastic for recycling! The recycled plastic is then provided back to the local villagers to weave into matts, baskets and other functional products which they sell to supplement their income, thereby providing a full cycle from trash, to education, to economic sustainability!