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UAE supermarkets look for ways to reduce plastic use

Lulu Group had launched their two-month long 'I Choose to Reuse' campaign in their stores in May.

Major supermarket chains in the UAE are exploring ways to reduce the use of plastic bags by their stores and consumers.
This year, Waitrose in Abu Dhabi started charging their customers 0.25 fils per bag for single use across five of their stores in the Capital. They have recently reported a 74 per cent reduction in their single-use plastic bags. The charge is part of a three-month long trial, which ends in September.
It was also International Plastic Bag Free Day on July 3 and some stores stopped their supply of plastic bags for a single day to promote the use of eco-friendly bags.
The chief communications officer at Lulu Group, V Nandakumar, told Khaleej Times that they are looking at further options on how to promote the use of eco-friendly bags. "It's a real cost for us as well when it comes to the growing use of plastic," he said. "We are looking at different options (on how to reduce the use of plastic bags). The purpose would never be to make money out of this but to encourage people to reduce plastic bag consumption. Anything we do requires large scale planning so in the meantime, we are encouraging them to start using reusable bags."
Lulu Group had launched their two-month long 'I Choose to Reuse' campaign in their stores in May, where they gave away 500 free reusable bags to their shoppers. They also distributed 6,000 eco-friendly reusable bags, at a cost, in their Al Barsha branch to promote reducing the use of plastic bags.
"We introduced the Lulu reusable shopping bag, which means you buy one for lifetime and we replace them for free if they go bad. We also started rewarding people for using them," Nandakumar said.
Zoom has plans on completely eliminating the use of plastic bags across all of its stores in the near future. In a Press release, Zoom said that 10 of its stores are currently plastic bag-free and are using paper bags as an alternative. This year, it will also introduce canvas bags as part of its efforts to eliminate plastic.
Kamal Vachani, group director of Al Maya Group which operates more than 50 supermarkets in the UAE, told Khaleej Times that their firm would also like to explore ways to educate consumers on reducing the use of plastic bags.
"I think to save the environment, some steps must be taken to reduce use of plastic bags. There are certain customers who visit our supermarkets with their own reusable bags but the awareness on using less plastic has to be made more visible, such as offering reusable bags for free. To encourage customers to use reusable bags, the government is taking great steps. We, at Al Maya, will take all steps to create awareness on less use of plastic. We would like to work and find a way to educate consumers about the use of less plastic bags and use a more eco-friendly option," Vachani said.
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com