Sustainable City Dubai turns single-use plastic into reusable shopping bags

The Sustainable City in Dubai, the first fully sustainable development in the region, announced a new community initiative to eliminate plastic pollution and divert single-use plastic waste from landfills.

The Plastic for Fabric campaign encourages residents of Dubai’s most eco-conscious community to collect and convert their single-use plastic to make reusable shopping bags. This has a double purpose – to reduce waste and to support the nation-wide tariff on single-use plastic bags that will be introduced on Friday (July 1, 2022).

The initiative is in line with Dubai Can, launched by Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, to eliminate single-use plastic bottles.

The Sustainable City’s Plastic for Fabric bags are made from 100 per cent recycled PET plastic, collected by children living in the community, and Sanad Village, the community’s rehabilitation centre for autism and other related disorders. Once collected, the plastic is sent for recycling and converted into fabric shopping bags. The bags are then distributed in collection points around the community and are going to be circulated for all The Sustainable City deliveries from Zoom Supermarket.

Salah Habib, Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Developers, said, "We are proudly committed to supporting the national target to completely ban all disposable bags in the UAE by 2024. As a leading player in sustainability, we understand the importance of implementing sustainable best practices across all our communities. To date, we have already successfully eliminated all kinds of single-use plastic from restaurants in The Sustainable City and now, working closely with our partners, we are phasing out plastic bags. We will continue to positively impacting our communities, and play our role in making the nation one of the most sustainable destinations in the world".

WAM