"Climate change and environment" Reveal details "Guide to single-use plastic products "

Dubai, January 2, 2017 – The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment revealed the details of the “Guide for Regulating Single-Use Plastic Products and Bags,” as part of activating the UAE’s decision to regulate the use of single-use products in the country’s markets.

The guide plays a vital role in directing partners in the private sector, including producers, importers, distributors, major retailers and consumers, including community members, towards adopting environmentally friendly practices, by dispensing with plastic products and single-use bags and replacing them with sustainable options that contribute to reducing plastic pollution in the country.

Ministerial Resolution No. 380 of 2022, regulating the use of single-use products in the country’s markets, is one of the measures aimed at protecting the environment from pollution resulting from the consumption of such products. It limits their consumption, regulates their production and use, and prohibits the import, production, or circulation of single-use plastic shopping bags, including biodegradable bags. It entered into force on January 1, 2024.

Her Excellency Engineer Alia Abdul Rahim Al Harmoudi, Assistant Undersecretary for the Sustainable Communities Sector in the Ministry, said that the guide for regulating single-use plastic products and bags comes within the framework of national efforts aimed at achieving sustainability goals and reducing plastic pollution, and is a regulatory guidance document aimed at reducing the use of products. referred to, and includes aspects regulating the handling of these products.

She added that the guide identified alternatives to single-use bags and the characteristics of multi-use bags, and also created a list of single-use products and bags excluded from the application.

She said that the outputs and results were consistent with the objectives of the guide on the ground, as its application contributed to encouraging a wide segment of society members to adopt environmentally friendly methodologies and options in their daily lives, such as using multi-use bags, in addition to changing the prevailing habits and culture to make sustainable shopping a priority. By improving consumer shopping patterns and choosing more sustainable practices, which has also increased interest and societal awareness of sustainability and environmental issues.

She continued that the most important positive effects that have occurred are the transformation and gradual transition to an integrated circular economy, through reusing and recycling resources instead of disposing of them, which reduced waste and increased the rate of utilization of primary raw materials, which pushed towards achieving economic value from waste, through Directing plastic and alternative materials to recycling and reuse processes, in addition to increasing the demand for sustainable and environmentally friendly products, which also stimulates the growth of green industries and supports the pillars of the circular economy in the country.

She added that the guide has brought about a positive transformation in various fields and that it will enhance the country’s ability to achieve its environmental, social and economic goals, in line with a sustainable future vision, which will have an important role in building a more aware and sustainable society.

The “Guide to Single-Use Plastic Products” contributes to reducing the consumption of these products and thus reducing the amounts of plastic that leak into the terrestrial and marine environments, which contributes to improving the health and safety of these ecosystems, by reducing the risks threatening living organisms. It includes food containers and cups. Beverages, plates, stir sticks, straws, cutlery (spoons, forks, knives and chopsticks), as well as single-use bags regardless of the material they are made of, and reviews alternatives to plastic products. Single-use products that were banned under the aforementioned decision.

The guide addresses the characteristics and specifications of the materials used in the manufacture of multi-use bags, the most important of which is that they are washable, free of harmful substances, and their compliance with the technical requirements and measurements in force in the country, as well as the single-use products and bags that are excluded from the application of the guide, which include thin bag rolls. Used in packing foodstuffs and food, garbage bags, medicine bags, and large shopping bags designed for fashion, electronic gadgets, and toys, in addition to single-use products intended for export or re-export outside the country, as well as products Made from recycled materials according to what is specified with the concerned authorities.

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