Retailers in Abu Dhabi, including Abu Dhabi Co-operative Society, Carrefour, LuLu Hypermarket, Choitrams, Spinneys and Waitrose, have signed agreements with the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi to support the emirate’s Single-Use Plastic Policy, which comes into effect on June 1.
The policy seeks to free Abu Dhabi’s marine and land environments of single-use plastic waste through gradual reduction of single-use plastic bags and increased use of reusable products.
“By working with our partners, we seek to implement this policy and a number of measures to reduce the consumption of single-use plastic products and transition towards reusable materials,” said Dr. Shaikha Salem Al Dhaheri, secretary general of Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi.
“In the near future, there will be a gradual reduction of single-use and disposable plastic products and we will push for the promotion of multi-use products.”
The retailers have pledged to eliminate single-use plastic bags and will charge shoppers for reusable plastic bags.
“We welcome the decision taken by the Abu Dhabi authorities to reduce the use of single-use plastic bags,” said Rajiv Warrier, CEO of Choitrams.
“Choitrams has been actively encouraging use of reusable shopping bags for years now; our multi-use “Bag for Life” is available for purchase at all Choitrams stores. Together, we can ensure a clean marine and terrestrial environment in the UAE.”
The policy aligns with the UAE’s vision of sustainable living.
Ibrahim Al Zubi, chief sustainability officer at MAF Holding, operator of Carrefour, said: “As an Emirati company, we have a commitment to protect and save our community, which is the reason we grew our sustainability operations exponentially over the past few years and pledged to eliminating single-use plastic and becoming Net Positive in carbon and water by 2040.”
Retailers will also contribute financially to eco-friendly initiatives and provide updates on their progress towards sustainability.
“This landmark initiative is going to be a major game-changer in the fight against the negative impact of plastic on our precious environment and LuLu Group is fully committed to make the “Abu Dhabi Single-Use Plastic Policy” a grand success,” said Saifee Rupawala, CEO of LuLu Group International.
“We have already launched a major awareness campaign throughout all our hypermarkets and in social media to achieve an impactful result from day one itself. In our second phase, we will be implementing many innovative projects to further promote re-usable shopping bags and various sustainability initiatives.”
Single-use plastic accounts for 36 per cent of the world’s annual plastic production of 400 million tonnes, said Dr Al Dhaheri, citing reports from the World Government Summit 2019.
The UAE exhausts 11 billion plastic bags annually. Each shopper uses approximately 1,182 bags each year, which is significantly more than the global average of 307.
“Abu Dhabi Co-operative Society is committed to removing single-use plastic from our outlets and across our business, and we proudly support the vision of our leadership to protect the natural beauty and environment of the UAE,” said Abdulmajeed Alkhoori, CEO of ADCOOPS.
“This initiative to remove single-use plastic will be a big win for the health of our oceans, wadis and deserts. As a community retailer, we will exert effort to help our customers to make the change towards a more sustainable and a greener future.”
Sunil Kumar, CEO of Fine Fare Food, the operator of Spinneys and Waitrose, concurred: “We have a great responsibility to help protect our local environment and ecosystems. We view the Abu Dhabi Single-Use Plastic Policy as a significant step forward that accelerates the UAE towards a cleaner, healthier future.”
