Dubai said earlier this year that from July 1, 2022, it would implement a “green tariff.” If you were to use single-use plastic bags for your shopping, they would cost 25 fils apiece. The prohibition now applies to single-use bags made of any material, not simply plastic, according to Dubai Municipality. Dubai Municipality said that paper bags were deserving of the fee because “the production…is also harmful to the environment and leads to the cutting of a large number of trees and consumes great resources and energy”.

Single-use bags made of any material (plastic, paper, biodegradable plastic and plant-based biodegradable materials, etc) which have a thickness of 57 micrometres (one-thousandth of a millimetre) or more will be implied with the mandatory tariff. Four months will be given to retailers to implement the charge and offer reusable alternatives if they wish. Though Dubai has set out plans to completely ban single-use plastic in 2024 & Abu Dhabi will implement a ban from June 2022.