Amid rising worries about plastic pollution, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have brought forward their ban on all disposable plastic products, aside from those made of oxo-biodegradable plastic. As per decree 77/5, the new law is to go into effect on 1 January 2013. The ordinance not only affects plastic bags, but all other packaging and disposable articles made of fossil fuel-derived plastics, including semi-rigid packaging, shrink and pallet wraps and cling film, among others.

All plastic products sold in the UAE now require a registration certificate issued by the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (ESMA, Abu Dhabi / UAE; www.esma.gov.ae) and must contain pro-degradant additives from suppliers who have been audited by ESMA and comply with UAE Standard 5009. In the wake of the decree, ESMA said it would inspect all plastic products entering the country, adding that those without the proper certificate would be impounded. In addition, the authority also said it would conduct factory inspections to ensure full compliance with the ban.

Oxo-biodegradable plastic biodegrades completely on land and in water. According to biodegradable plastics specialist Symphony Environmental Technologies (Borehamwood / UK; www.symphonyplastics.com), the UAE market for oxo-biodegradable plastic amounts to 500,000 t/y.