In defence of plastic bags in the UAE — don’t ban them, make them better

Abdulwahab Al Sadoun explains how the UAE plastics industry can provide a solution for the nation's bag problem.

Plastic bags and other rubbish piles up on the streets of Khalifa City A in Abu Dhabi in 2014. Ravindranath K / The National

Images of polluted beaches, parks and seas have been a recurring theme in newspapers for the past few years. As a rapidly developing country, the UAE is no exception to this trend.

The problem of litter is escalating to the highest level of importance as this affects the community, the environment and wildlife. To tackle this alarming development, discussions on banning plastic bags have reached the highest levels of the Government, including recent debates in the Federal National Council.

While the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA), the body representing plastics producers in the region, agrees that serious steps need to be undertaken to tackle waste and litter damaging the land and marine environment, in our opinion, the application of a ban of conventional lightweight plastics bags in favour of so-called “degradable bags” may have a detrimental effect.

The rapidly growing plastics industry believes that the introduction of this law in its current form will not realise the goal that it was intended to achieve. To the contrary, this law has the possibility to increase the litter on our beaches and in the dessert.

Implementing the use of degradable plastic bags sends out the wrong message to society, as people tend to think that because the bags degrade, they can be absorbed easily into the natural environment. In fact, degradable plastic bags need very specific conditions in terms of humidity and sunlight to disintegrate. And even when they do, they do not disappear into thin air but fragment into smaller pieces of plastic that are much harder to retrieve.

The sustainable-waste strategy of the UAE includes improving the collection, segregation and recycling of plastic waste as plastics can easily be remoulded into new products that add value to society. While progress has been made towards achieving this goal with the ongoing expansion of waste management systems, it is essential that we provide product solutions that support this strategy. Degradable plastics have additives that interfere with the recycling process of plastics and when they eventually fragment. Moreover, because of the small size of these fragments, collection and segregation is more complicated in the already complex process of recycling.

It is for these reasons that the plastics industry advocates for the use of durable plastic bags that can be reused by consumers for a longer period. These bags are less likely to be discarded thoughtlessly into the environment. If people have to buy them, then this could potentially eliminate litter of plastic bags – but this change will occur over years, as people need time to reorient themselves to this new perspective. Regulation and fines against littering should also be strongly enforced to encourage changes of human behaviour across the country.

Some retailers are offering cotton, paper and other cellulose-based reusable bags to their customers, but these require enormous amounts of energy and water to produce and because of their increased weight and density incur significantly more negative effect on the environment during transport from where they are produced to the UAE. Reusable plastic bags, on the other hand, are lighter and more flexible, do not have these shortcomings and are produced in the UAE.

The UAE plastics industry can provide a solution for the bag problem. We need to take advantage of the intrinsic properties of plastics, as they are the ideal material for carrier bags. Retailers have to play their part by focusing on providing only reusable heavyweight and non-woven plastics bags in their convenience stores, grocery shops and shopping centres. Charges for carrier bags will also go a long way to reduce the unnecessary use of bags and are a working alternative in countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom.

Similarly, society has to play its part by educating itself about the fact that plastic bags do not create litter – people do. Along with other environmental organisations, the GPCA has an annual waste-free environment campaign that brings attention to this major problem across the UAE and the region. However, we still see far too much waste in the environment because of irresponsible human behaviour. Here in the UAE, the plastics industry strongly advocates the principles of the four Rs:

• Reduce your usage of carrier bags.

• Reuse carrier bags whenever possible.

• Recycle plastic bags into new products.

• Recover the energy from plastics.

For the latter two goals, we need to support the full implementation of sustainable closed-loop waste management practices in all of the emirates and the governments can be a key driver in attracting downstream development to this segment of the economy.

The plastic industry in the UAE accounts for 20 per cent of the region’s 26.2 million-tonne plastics portfolio. Plastics are creating significant socio-economic and diversification benefits to the national economy and can contribute to the sustainable development objectives of the country’s Vision 2021.

At the end of the day, litter is a problem that touches each and every one of us. The good news is that the solution to this issue is a collaborative one. We need to commit to and adopt truly sustainable solutions that address this major challenge and avoid the temptation of shortcuts. All we need to do is to work together for a better tomorrow, today.

Abdulwahab Al Sadoun is secretary general of the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association

Follow The National's Business section on Twitter