Dubai: In the wake of Dubai Airport’s move of banning all single use plastics from the first of this month, leading international news channel, euronews spoke to business owners in Dubai about their efforts to help reduce the city’s plastic consumption in 2020.

In a recent survey conducted by Censuswide, it was reported that 90 percent of people are making a conscious effort to reduce their own plastic waste consumption. Nearly four in five say they recycle more now than they did five years ago, and one in four people say they're encouraged to recycle more by corporations championing plastic free initiatives.

With a consumer shift towards using less plastic evident, the Dubai Airports initiative, and hotels and restaurants across Dubai pledging to use alternative materials instead of single use plastic, it is clear that ditching the plastic has to be a joint effort between consumers and businesses, and something that Dubai is becoming more conscious about.

In an interview, that aired on 24th January 2020, euronews spoke to Dubai Airports about their initiative that will drastically reduce the capital’s plastic usage going in to the new era, Eugene Barry, Executive Vice President (Commercial), Dubai Airports said: “Ninety five percent of our partners have actually made the pledge to switch from plastic to appropriate and relevant substitutes for some of the products that are using catering and retail across the airport.” (sic)

He added: “Some of our partners like McDonald's, Costa Coffee, Pret a Manger and some of our local brands here, like Tree House and Transee have already introduced products which are suitable and environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic. This is very much the early stages of a long journey, I believe, to have a more environmentally friendly approach to managing businesses.” (sic)

Also speaking to euronews and documenting a consumer shift in Dubai that is seeing the demand for the recycled, non-plastic straw was Peter Avram, Managing Director, Avani Middle Eastavani. He commented: “The private sector are at the forefront of the fight against the plastic pandemic in blasting single plastic use. Until a couple of years ago we had no major solutions, particularly for the bag. This bag, as you can see here, is made out of a kind of a potato. It’s called a cassava. They get and mixed with vegetable oil and then they are made into this type of grains. They are processed through this machine, which melts them and then blows them into film, and then that is what we cut into shape. Then we blow up the bags. We have a couple of customers that they already sell, like Virgin Megastore. We have a couple of smaller operators that do use the bag. What has happened is we reduce the consumption of bags up to even more than 50 percent. And that's the biggest contribution that we could make.” (sic)

Although companies in Dubai know that making the switch to banning all single use plastics in their establishments will have financial implications, continuing to use plastic just isn't an option for most.

Feeling strongly about this view is restauranteur Tom Arnel, Founder of popular casual eatery Common Grounds. He said: “As a father of three kids, I take my family to the beach all the time and to see the amount of plastic that's building up in our sand and in our oceans is just crazy. So our to the environment is huge. You know, we serve thousands of customers a week and every little bit that we can do really does go a long way to help the situation. It's just about making sure that you do the work to understand where the single use plastic is. All of our plastic cups, all of our plastic takeaway bowls and plates and cutlery, you know, replenishing those those areas of our kitchens with things that we knew were great for the environment. The feedback from our customers has been amazing. So as long as everyone's doing their bit and understanding their impact, we should be able to make a change together. (sic)

The programme is available to view on euronews.com. https://www.euronews.com/2020/01/24/dubai-acts-to-stem-the-tide-of-single-use-plastic

euronews is Europe's number one international news channel, currently delivering 24/7 news to almost 400 million TV households in 160 countries. Euronews reaches 137million people every month and is available in 12 distinct language editions and has a strong presence on digital platforms.

Ends

For more information please contact:
Plus 1 Communications / Jenna Stirland / jenna@plus1comms.com  / +971 56 892 6609

About euronews

euronews, a leading international news channel, empowers people to form their own opinion. euronews is unapologetically impartial and seeks to offer a diversity of viewpoints. Our promise to our viewers and guests alike is: "All Views, All Voices, All Welcome".

Since its launch in 1993 in Lyon (France), euronews has been delivering impartial news trusted by audiences across the world, available in almost 400 million homes across 160 countries, and reaching 137 million people every month. In the European Union, Euronews is distributed in 67% of homes. 

In 2017, euronews renewed its offer by launching 12 distinct language editions, with a “glocal” approach to news: euronews continues to grow as a global media offering content adapted to the expectations of local audiences. Aside from round-the-clock news coverage, euronews has dedicated shows covering science, climate, business, current affairs and culture, both on television and on its digital platforms. 

With a team of 500 journalists of more than 30 different nationalities, Euronews' 12 editions cover world news 24/7 in Arabic, English, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish.  With its headquarters in Lyon, euronews also has bureaus in Brussels, Athens and Budapest, correspondents across Europe and beyond, as well as commercial offices in London, Paris, Berlin, the UAE and Singapore. In 2018 and 2019, it launched three franchise projects; Euronews Albania, Euronews Georgia and Euronews Serbia.

In 2016, the euronews group launched its sister channel, Africanews, the first pan-African multilingual and independent news outlet. From Pointe-Noire, Republic of the Congo, a team of 85 professionals from 15 nationalities produce rolling news simultaneously in English and French.

In June 2017, NBC News and euronews announced a partnership. NBC News acquired 25% of the company to make a significant financial investment in euronews to support expanded news coverage and programming, allowing in particular the development of euronews’ English language edition, which offers today 17 hours of anchored shows, every weekday.

 www.euronews.com     www.africanews.com 

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