Dubai to ban single use plastic bags from January 1, 2024

Dubai shoppers take note: single-use plastic bags will be banned from tomorrow, January 1, 2024.

Announced by HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, it’s part of a city-wide initiative to totally phase out single use products, as the emirate looks to go greener.

Effective from January 1, you will not be able to import or purchase single-use plastic bags across the city. There are a few exceptions, which include thin-film rolls for packaging meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, grains, and bread. Garbage bags are also exempt from the ban.

According to state news agency, wam, further bans will be put in place in the year following. From June 1, 2024, non-plastic single-use products will be banned across Dubai, including single-use bags of other materials. And then from January 1, 2025 single-use plastic products including plastic stirrers, table covers, cups, styrofoam food containers, plastic straws, and plastic cotton swabs, will all be banned city-wide.

Then from January 1, 2026, the ban will extend to plastic products like plates, food containers, tableware and cups.

In the first phase of the ban, just covering single-use plastic bags, any non-compliance will result in a fine of Dhs200. For any further violations within a year, the penalty will double, up until a fee of Dhs2,000.

The Resolution is effective from January 1, 2024 and will be published in the Official Gazette.

The new rule goes one step further than the 2022 introduction of a 25 fil charge for single-use plastic bags, which came into effect 18 months ago.

In Abu Dhabi, a single-use plastic bag ban has been in effect since June 2022. During the first year of the ban, single-use plastic was reduced by some 95 per cent, according to the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi.

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