UAE brings forward ban on disposable plastics

UAE brings forward ban on disposable plastics

FMCG SUPPLIER NEWS

Feb 21st, 08:55

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has brought forward its ban on all disposable plastic products, except on those made from oxo-biodegradable plastic, by one year. 

The ministry of environment and water issued a decree banning the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags by the end of 2012.

Originally, the ban was proposed to be made effective on 1 January 2013 but concerns about plastic products accumulating in the deserts and the sea, and the effect on the local wildlife, have led the ministry to rethink.

Plastic packaging

The ban covers all packaging and disposable articles made from plastic polymers derived from fossil-fuels, except those made from oxo-biodegradable plastic, according to the ministry.

The banned products include flexible shopping bags and semi-rigid plastic packaging for food, magazines, consumer-durables, garbage bags, bin-liners for household use, shrink wrap, pallet wrap and cling film.

It also covers other articles normally used over short periods and subsequently discarded.

The official notice stated that all plastic products from now on will require ECAS Registration Certificate issued by Emirates Authority for Standardisation & Metrology (ESMA) only for products made from oxo-bio plastic.

The products should comply with UAE Standard 5009 of 2009 and must be made with pro-degradant additive from suppliers who have been audited by ESMA.

ESMA will inspect plastic bags and other plastic products at port-of-entry and also conduct factory inspections to ensure full compliance of products being manufactured within the UAE.

Speaking to PN about the ban on disposable plastics, PAFA chief executive Barry Turner said: “The focus has to be on educating the consumer to use packaging responsibly and to reuse and recycle it.

“We have to reuse and recycle to conserve resources and not destroy resources.

“There is no escaping this and to think there is a silver bullet is misleading. In fact there is a real danger that consumers think they can discard used bags just because they will degrade so far from addressing the route causes this measure can and will make things worse.”

‘Opportunity’

Oxo-biodegradable plastic firm Symphony Environmental said the ban presents the company with an opportunity to supply a market estimated at 500,000t and where it is an authorised supplier.

Symphony is also making its d2detector, a portable device which can tell instantly whether a plastic product is oxo-biodegradable, available in the UAE.

Oxo-biodegradable plastic has a controlled lifespan and ability to biodegrade completely either on land or water and has proved popular across the Middle East and particularly in the UAE.