SMEs in Oman urged to reap benefits of plastic ban

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country have been urged to reap the benefits of the plastic ban which came into force in the country.

“SMEs can enjoy the benefits of plastic bans by various measures’’, says an expert at be’ah. “Manufacturing alternatives to the plastic products can help consumers to use them instead of single use plastic. They include paper bags and textile bags.”

Other areas where the local SMEs can look into are recycling the old stock of single use plastic into other useful products and spreading environmental awareness of the expected benefits from the ban.

“Some SMEs have already started liaising with some retailers and electronic companies to source bags from them for all their online deliveries. Similarly, plastic bagless services can be promoted.” According to Abdullah al Hashami of the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, efforts to support the Omani youth business need to be designed and offer them the best solution to avoid any losses especially during the pandemic.

“These local SMEs can be offered with incentives to manufacture eco-friendly bags for certain period. SMEs can manufacture single use, cost effective, biodegradable bags’’, says Al Hashami.

Mohammed al Balushi of the Research Council, suggests that the old newspapers that are less in use can be converted into paper bags thus promoting village industries where locals can excel.

“Similarly, foldable trolleys which can be kept inside the car boot is another option and these trolleys can be manufactured locally promoting a one-time investment’’, Mohammed said.

Ammujam Raveendran, an environmentalist who manufactures reusable bags named rebagoman in wilayat of Barka, says there are two alternatives to the plastic bags.

“The first option is reusable fabric bags and the second one is bags made out of non woven fabrics which is more harmful to nature as they are made of compressed polyester fibre which is not biodegradable. Today, the market is filled with these bags because they are the cheaper option’’, says Raveendran who conducts large-scale beach cleaning campaigns.

Fatma al Balushi, owner of Sidus, which is an SME, feels that awareness among the people should be leading the way.

“People should be encouraged to make reusable fabric bags a daily habit and stop using plastic water bottles, disposable plastic plates and glasses. These steps will boost the sale of eco-friendly bags.”