Salim bin Ali bin Salim al Hakmani, Chairman of Consumer Protection Authority (CPA), held a meeting with owners of commercial centres in the Governorate of Muscat on Tuesday to review the situation after the decision to ban the use of single-use plastic bags.
Al Hakmani said the establishments should implement initiatives that serve consumers and encourage them to use environmentally friendly bags, which have been welcomed by suppliers and some commercial centres.
Some retail outlets are offering eco-friendly bags for free for every purchase over RO 3 or more based on an initiative for giving environmentally friendly bags if the minimum purchase value was RO 5.
Other initiatives include distributing eco-friendly bags free of charge regardless of the value of the purchase. One of the centres said that a total of one million eco-friendly reusable bags will be distributed in the coming days, while another mall will distribute 50,000 during the year 2021.
More initiatives will be announced in the coming days.
Al Hakmani stressed that providing environmentally friendly bags in stores and commercial centres for free requires the consumer to develop a culture of using the same bags in every shopping until there is a need to replace the bag, which can be done free of charge.
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