Dubai Municipality imposes 25 fils fee on plastic bags in stores starting from July

Dubai Municipality revealed that a tariff of 25 fils will be applied to single-use plastic bags, starting from the first of next July, and that their use will be completely banned within two years.

The municipality indicated that all stores must apply a tariff of 25 fils for each single-use bag, and a different tariff can be placed on sustainable (reusable) alternatives if provided by the store.

The municipality pointed out that the tariff will apply to all single-use bags used to transport goods at the point of purchase according to special specifications, including "each bag with a thickness of less than 57 micrometers, including bags made of plastic, paper, biodegradable plastic and biodegradable plant materials."

Regarding the possibility of using paper bags as a free alternative, the municipality stated that the identification applies to all single-use bags for transporting goods, including paper bags with a thickness of less than 57 micrometers, and that stores are not obligated to provide free alternatives as the goal is to push a change in consumer behavior in order to preserve local environment.

She stressed that the tariff is mandatory for all shops that use single-use bags to transport goods, and bags of other quality can be provided as an alternative to plastic bags.

However, the tariff shall apply to the alternatives if the specifications match the single-use bags for transporting goods.

The municipality stated that it has set a deadline of four months to apply the tariff, and then two years to ban the use of single-use bags, and the prohibited goods will be determined at a later time.

She said that plastic bags can be paid for in the invoice like any other commodity that is registered upon purchase, and the tariff is not calculated if the consumer brings his own bags.

"There is no ceiling on the number of bags sold to a single consumer, but we recommend that workers at payment points be trained to rationalize the use of bags when packing and delivering purchases," she added.

Dubai Municipality added, "A tariff has been imposed on single-use bags, as single-use goods bags are a major source of litter and pollution in our environment. These bags do not degrade until after a very long period of time, and are only used once - maybe twice." -before disposal. Most of them are only used once to transport goods from the store to the home."

She pointed out that single-use bags take 400 years to decompose and thousands of years to reduce their negative effects. A local study found that about 86% of sea turtles that were found dead on the beaches of some Emirates in the country had consumed plastic materials, thinking they were jellyfish.

These cysts may also cause blockage of the digestive tract and the death of some animals, such as camels, goats and deer.

A study from the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency found that 50% of the dead camels had consumed plastic.

She stated that for other bags, it should be noted that alternatives often have a larger environmental footprint than plastic bags, but they are easier to manage at the disposal stage and cause less environmental and health damage, provided that they are used well, for example, the production of paper bags is also harmful to the environment and leads To cut down large quantities of trees and consume large resources and energy, and therefore their use also requires paying the fees imposed.

Single-use plastic bags have a lower environmental footprint than paper bags in the manufacturing stage, but their damages lie in the disposal stage.

We need to use paper bags at least three to seven times to have a lower environmental impact than non-recyclable plastic cargo bags.

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