The Executive Council of Dubai announced February 7 that a tariff of 25 fils will be applied to single-use plastic bags at purchase from July 1, 2022.

The policy will concern all retail stores in Dubai (grocery, electronics, fashion, beauty, pharmacy, etc.) as well as e-commerce deliveries and will be supported by an awareness campaign. The objective is to encourage people to reduce their single-use plastic bags consumption and reach a complete ban within two years.

Some key figures about the negative environmental impact of plastics were also shared by The Executive Council:

• Plastic bags take 400 years to decompose and thousands of years to reduce their impact
• 86% of turtles found dead on some of the Emirates’ shores absorbed plastic and 50% of camels in the UAE died due to consumption of plastic bags
• Only 50% of inhabitants sorts its waste at home
• 85% of UAE residents and 100% of businesses are supporting these new practices changes

Today, many sustainable solutions exist in the retail industry to help reducing the use of plastic and waste like the reusable bags or contenants, bulk or free-packaging products.

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