Plastic Resources Education – 3Rs & 3Cs Programme Launch Ceremony
Plastic Resources Education – 3Rs & 3Cs Programme Launch Ceremony
Sponsored by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC), the Centre for Education in Environmental Sustainability (CEES) at the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) has launched a 2-year programme: Plastic Resources Education – 3Rs & 3Cs. Officiating at the launch ceremony on the EdUHK Tai Po Campus today (29 September) were Professor Stephen Cheung Yan-leung, EdUHK President; Professor John Lee Chi-kin, EdUHK Vice President (Academics); Professor Winnie So Wing-mui, Director of CEES; Dr Stephen Chow Cheuk-fai, the supervisor of the Programme; and Ms Malini Thadani, Head of Corporate Sustainability, Asia Pacific at HSBC. Education booths were set up to promote plastic waste education, attracting over a hundred people.
Local solid waste generation has increased rapidly in recent decades, and plastic waste makes up around 20% of this growing problem. Plastics undoubtedly bring convenience to our daily lives but some contain chemical substances and are not very biodegradable. The overuse of plastics is expected to cause severe damage to the environment in the long term. To this end, CEES launched the Plastic Resources Education – 3Rs & 3Cs programme to promote plastic resource education and plastic waste recycling in 40 local primary schools from August 2016 to July 2018.
Speaking at the launch ceremony, the two supervisors of the Programme, Professor Winnie So Wing-mui, Director of CEES, and Dr Stephen Chow Cheuk-fai, Associate Professor of the Department of Science and Environmental Studies, said they hoped that the programme would educate students about plastic management, and nurture their attitude and behaviour towards environmental sustainability to alleviate the environmental and social problems brought about by the huge local plastic waste load.
Professor Cheung showed his gratitude for HSBC’s support and said that “with the collaboration and contribution of the school principals and teachers, EdUHK students, parents associations and volunteers from HSBC, we have every confidence that the programme will have a positive and beneficial impact on the development of environmental sustainability in Hong Kong”.
Ms Thadani said she looked forward to the programme’s impact. “Environmental education should start at a young age, for it is crucial for people to adopt a sustainable lifestyle from an early stage in their lives. Children are our key to a sustainable future. This programme is significant, for it will provide tools to teachers to amplify this message to students in primary schools across Hong Kong.”
An international conference on synergy between science and social development in solid waste management followed the launch ceremony. Sponsored by the Croucher Foundation, the conference attracted experts and scholars from both Hong Kong and abroad to discuss their experiences of tackling challenges in education, policy, science and technology when facing the severe problem of plastic waste loads.
