UAE eyes plastic shopping bags ban from 2012

PLASTIC BAN: Supermarkets across the UAE will have to have alternatives to plastic bags by 2012.

Plastic shopping bags will be completely phased out in the UAE by 2012, officials have ruled.

The UAE Cabinet decree has endorsed the proposal to help prevent environmental damage, Gulf News reported.

Plastic bags take hundreds of years to degrade, so in a bid to reduce waste officials have banned their use from 2012. Instead, alternatives like paper or biodegradable plastic bags will have to be used.

"This initiative will include six main areas, the most important of which is education using all media, in all languages and to explain the negative impact of misusing plastic bags," said Hunaida Qaid, head of the environmental education section at the Ministry of Environment and Water.

Efforts to curb the use of plastic bags have already been taken by some retailers.

Géant hypermarket was the first retailer in the emirate to introduce a deposit payment scheme for plastic bags in February 2008.

Meanwhile, Carrefore stocks re-usable carrier bags at its checkouts in a bid to encourage customers to re-use bags and reduce plastic waste.

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READERS' COMMENTS

Plastic ban in 2012
Posted by P Robillard, Dubai, UAE on Sunday 5 July 2009 at 16:05 UAE time


Sorry I read Bahrain and noticed it was UAE. However I still think it should be enforced earlier than 2012

Ban on plastic bags
Posted by P Robillard, Dubai, UAE on Sunday 5 July 2009 at 16:02 UAE time


This is an excellent initiative and I hope the same would apply to the UAE. However I don't understand why it cannot be enforced before 2012. It can be easily 2010 and will save 2 years of garbage bags polluting our country

Bags Ban
Posted by David, Abu Dhabi, UAE on Sunday 5 July 2009 at 14:29 UAE time


This is excellent news indeed and the UAE authorities deserve congratulations for implementing this ban at long last!

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