To protect the environment, the UAE will ban single-use plastic shopping bags from January 2024. From January 2026, the UAE will ban plastic products such as cutlery, cups and lids, plates, and pipettes.
Styrofoam containers used for takeaway food packaging will also be banned from 2026. In January 2023, Ajman and Umm Al Quwain issued a single-use plastic bag ban. This has inspired the current UAE-wide single-use plastic ban. Once enforced, all bags must be biodegradable. They must be made of either paper or woven cloth.
