Dubai: A top UAE-based professor has warned of the dangers posed to the country's environment by plastic bags.
Dr Mohammad Abdul Mohsen Onsy, Professor and Director of Research Affairs at the UAE University in Al Ain, said the general public needed to be educated on the issue before the situation deteriorated any further.
My Bag My Earth - a campaign launched in conjunction with Dubai Municipality and International Humanitarian City - believes one billion plastic bags are used every year in the UAE .
Professor Onsy said: "Plastic bags are made from materials that do not biodegrade easily and persist in the environment for hundreds of years. Studies have shown plastic bags end up in landfills.
"We need to educate the general public and urge the plastic bags industry to halt production for the services sector. Paper bags should be the norm as has been the case for most industrial countries since the early 1990s."
Dubai Municipality has just announced it will stop the distribution of 14 million plastic bags in a bid to tackle the country's rising pollution rate, which sits at 17 per cent in Dubai alone. The global average is between six and nine per cent.
The government currently distributes plastic bags to the public for free. However, it costs the authorities approximately Dh3.7 million to purchase the bags from plastic factories.
Hassan Maki, Head of Waste Services at Dubai Municipality, said the decision had been taken because plastic bags caused pollution to the environment.
"We aim to reduce the rate of pollution in Dubai from 17 per cent to five per cent," he said.
Geant Hypermarket at Ibn Battuta Mall introduced a 25 fils fee for plastic bags last month and their usage dropped by half within a week.
Carrefour supermarket allows customers the opportunity to purchase reusable cotton bags.
Dangers: Clogging the planet
- Made from petrochemicals, a non-renewable resource
- Eventually break into smaller particles but never fully disappear
- Non-biodegradable
- Flimsy and do not stand up as well as paper or cloth
- They clog sewerage systems, which could cause flooding after heavy rainfall
- Do not decompose for around 1,000 years
- Can cause unsupervised infants to suffocate
- Plastic Soup - or gyres - in the world's oceans act as a sponge to toxins - they enter the food chain through planktons and magnify; a process called biomagnification
- Pollute the Earth's rivers and seas
- They have disastrous consequences on wildlife
- They are mistaken for food by marine animals, particularly sea turtles
- In the UAE, hundreds of camels are killed every year by plastic bags left behind in the desert
Do you know anyone who uses alternatives to plastic bags? How do they find the difference? What more can be done to highlight other forms of re-usable bags for consumers?
Your comments
We need to think practically while discussion a substitution for plastic bags. No doubt polymer bags are harmful to the environment. But there are plastics bags which are 100% biodegradable and environment friendly made out of soya bean resin known as Eco films and 300 per cent stronger than polyolefin bags. I feel this could be a better solution to save the environment.
Sharfullah
Dubai,UAE
Posted: March 18, 2008, 14:32
The authorities should impose a law which requires all malls/shopping centres and food chains to shift from using plastic bags to paper bags. Later, the use of styro packaging materials should also be banned for use because these are the primary reasons for our global warming, extreme climate change and deterioration of the ozone layer. Everyone should be educated on this matter, not only students. Strict implementation must be observed.
Fydoux
Dubai,UAE
Posted: March 18, 2008, 12:51
In the USA they use brown bags. If that is better for the environment than the plastic bags we use here, why don't we use them? Something has to be done about this and has to be done quick.
Zen
Dubai,UAE
Posted: March 18, 2008, 12:40
This is the first article that mentions an alternative to plastic bags, which are paper bags.
Bilal
Dubai,UAE
Posted: March 18, 2008, 11:55
Yes, the use of plastic bags is harmful to our environment. Strict rules should be implemented against this.
Mohammed
Dubai,UAE
Posted: March 18, 2008, 11:30
Back in the Philippines my mom uses "banig" or "bayong". It is a bag made out of palm leaves. It looks so trendy and it is so re-usable. I brought one here with me but people stare at us in the market because it looks odd to them! But for me this is the best substitute for using plastic bags!
Jerry
Dubai,UAE
Posted: March 18, 2008, 10:00
I like the paper bags that are available at IKEA. They are good quality paper bags and are quite strong. All other bags should be like these. I even reuse these bags. But the problem is that when I take these bags to reuse at other supermarkets they ask me to deposit them at the security counter and I cannot use them right away to put my shopping in them.
Syed
Dubai,UAE
Posted: March 18, 2008, 09:36
There are so many alternatives to plastic bags, the only thing is we should change our mindset as we need to know the intensity of harm caused by plastic usage. Public awareness programmes, education at school level, introducing a sales system to plastic bags, the importance of using jute bags, door-door campaigns, etc, can all be done to make the difference.
Ravi
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: March 18, 2008, 09:33
Like any other rule made mandatory here, there should be a strong emphasis on having plastic bags replaced by paper.
Sam
Dubai,UAE
Posted: March 18, 2008, 08:53
It's better to start using paper bags. Let's not wait for hundreds of years before we realise it's too late.
Joey
Dubai,UAE
Posted: March 18, 2008, 08:48
Jute bags can be given to customers in shopping malls. Everyone of us should not feel shy to carry a shoppers bag (cotton/jute) while we go for shopping. Fast food restaurants can give aluminium containers and paper bags.
K.P.C.
Dubai,UAE
Posted: March 18, 2008, 08:10
A good decision by my previous manager. In Australia customers bring their cloth bags which are reusable or they have to pay for the plastic bags. This will compel the customers to bring bags so that they will not lose their money.
Shaji
Melbourne,Australia
Posted: March 18, 2008, 04:43
