Monday, Jun 05, 2017

Dubai: A major grocery firm is replacing all plastic bags in its store with paper bags to help conserve the UAE ecosystem, it was announced on Monday.

To mark World Environment Day, Choithrams joined with Unilever officials to announce the phasing out of plastic bags at its Dubai stores effective immediately.

An estimated 11 billion plastic bags are used every year in the UAE and the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment is working to fully implement a 2013 decision to ban all plastic bags that are non-biodegradable, the Federal National Council was told in March 2016.

Numerous campaigns over the years in the UAE have been introduced to eliminate plastic bags from being disseminated into landfills and the land and marine environment where plastic is consumed by wildlife and is fatal.

In a statement, Choithrams said it will launch “a conscious initiative on June 5 to replace plastic bags used in their stores with paper bags, while continuing their successful collaboration with Unilever towards environmental sustainability since 2013.”

Officials gathered at the Safa Park Choitrams to launch the initiative.

Gaurav Rustagi, Country Director, Unilever for UAE and Oman, was joined by Choithrams directors at the Safa Park Choitrams store in Dubai.

Choithrams Chairman L.T. Pagarani said: “We are committed to adopting sustainable solutions to address the major challenges that have an impact on our environment and our society. A collaborative effort and a more proactive approach to recycling will make a big difference to the community and also empower people to be more conscientiousness of their surroundings. We encourage our consumers to work closely with us towards protecting the environment and reducing the carbon footprint.”

Rustagi noted: “Unilever is committed to working to bring about transformational change throughout the whole value chain and work closely with retail partners to change consumer habits. We see adoption of our sustainable practices by retailers within their own value chain as an extension of our efforts.”

By Derek Baldwin Chief Reporter

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