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UAE plastic bag ban: Why shoppers still pay and use single-use bags at shops
Three UAE residents and a UAE University study published in 2024 explain why the switch to reusable bags is proving harder than expected
- PUBLISHED: Mon 27 Jul 2026, 2:43 PM
Two and a half years after the UAE banned single-use plastic bags, these bags still appear at supermarket checkouts. They are now thicker and incur a charge.
Since January 1, 2026, Ministerial Decision No. 380 of 2022 has banned single-use bags thinner than 50 microns. These have been replaced by heavier bags containing more plastic, which, when used once and discarded, may have a greater environmental impact than those previously banned.
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Major retailers agreed to charge at least 50 fils per bag when the ban began. At Lulu, the standard carry bag costs Dh2.50, while the juco bag, made from recycled materials, is Dh7.50 as of July 2026. A juco bag typically pays for itself after three uses.
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Abu Dhabi implemented its ban ahead of the rest of the country in 2022. The Environment Agency reported a 95 per cent reduction in plastic bag use in Abu Dhabi at cash counters within the first year, saving an average of 450,000 bags daily and preventing over 172 million single-use bags from entering the environment. However, encouraging shoppers to reuse existing bags remains a significant challenge.
The people at the till
Aisha Hussein keeps reusable bags in her car and uses them regularly. "But if the shopping is more than expected, we do take plastic bags," she says. Building this habit took time. "Sometimes I would forget them at home or in the car and only remember after I had already started shopping."
For Yousef Nasser, the system is impractical. His large family's monthly shopping requires more than ten bags. "That is not practical," he says. He purchases plastic bags at checkout and reuses them at home for cleaning.
Mona Ahmed has never inquired about the cost of bags. She shares a car with her family, which makes it difficult to keep a dedicated set of reusable bags available. "I either forget them or someone uses them for something else," she says.
Why is it hard to break the habit of using plastic bags?
A UAE University study published in 2024 found that while residents are aware of the harm caused by plastic bags, their actual practices lag behind. The main barrier is convenience, not cost or lack of awareness. Shoppers are more likely to change their behaviour when offered tangible rewards rather than information alone.
A charge of one or two dirhams is typically too low to influence most shoppers. Card payments further obscure the cost within the total bill. Additionally, using a cloth bag requires shoppers to remember to bring it, unlike checkout bags.
Emirati Journalist