The UAE's federal 2026 list ends single-use plastic tableware and polystyrene food packs nationwide, while Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia still regulate mainly the carrier bag

Three layers of UAE rules

The UAE regulates single-use products at federal and emirate level at once, and the two layers do not use the same lists. Exhibit 2 sets out the instruments that matter to packaging. The SPI Regulation Tracker holds the Dubai resolution as PR-AE-001 on the United Arab Emirates page; the federal resolution and Abu Dhabi’s regulation are not yet tracker rules.

The federal resolution and Dubai’s resolution name each other in ways that do not match. Dubai Municipality’s release of 24 December 2025 describes the 2026 step as coinciding with UAE Cabinet Resolution No. (380) of 2022. The English text of Dubai’s Resolution 124 on the Dubai Legislation Portal cites a Ministerial Resolution No. (380) of 2023. The Arabic copy held by FAOLEX, and the UNEP LEAP record, describe a Ministerial Resolution No. (380) of 2022 issued by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment. SPI uses the federal text’s own form: Ministerial Resolution No. (380) of 2022.

The federal list from 1 January 2026

Article 4 of Resolution 380 sets two dates. The FAOLEX copy is a scan of the Arabic text with poor character quality, so SPI gives the items below as it reads them and treats any finer wording as not yet confirmed (Exhibit 3).

Scope and exceptions. Article 3 applies the resolution across the country, including free zones, and to single-use plastic products, single-use non-plastic products and multi-use products. Article 5 lists exceptions, among them thin film and bags for fresh meat, fish, vegetables and fruit, bags for medicines, large shopping bags for clothing, toys or electronics as set out in a Ministry guide, and goods made for export or re-export, which must be clearly marked and may not be traded in the country. Article 6 asks entities to reduce the supply of other single-use plastic items, including plastic packaging and wrapping, and to make multi-use alternatives widely available, but sets no dates. SPI has not yet confirmed the full list of Article 5 exceptions or the content of the Ministry’s implementation guide, which the Ministry announced in January 2025.

What the text does not say. SPI found no bag thickness in the federal text and no fine amount. The penalties that apply to a federal breach, and the authority that issues them in each emirate, are not yet confirmed by SPI.

Dubai: four phases and two resolutions

Dubai built its regime in two steps. Executive Council Resolution No. (52) of 2022 came into force on 1 July 2022 and put a price on bags. Its Article 5(a) reads, in the English text: “The price of a Single-use Bag is hereby set at twenty-five fils (AED 0.25) per bag.” Vendors charge it on each transaction where a bag is used and must collect it without any increase or decrease (Arts. 5(b) and 6). Dubai Municipality was to partner with the private sector to fund environmental projects from the proceeds (Art. 4(3)). The Dubai Media Office announced the policy on 7 February 2022 with the aim of a full ban on single-use carrier bags within two years.

Resolution No. (124) of 2023, issued on 30 December 2023, delivered that ban and more. It applies to all vendors and consumers in Dubai, including Special Development Zones and free zones such as the Dubai International Financial Centre (Art. 3). Its Article 5 bans import and trade in four phases (Exhibit 4).

The 57 micrometre line. Both Dubai resolutions define a single-use bag as a biodegradable or other plastic bag, a paper bag or a plant-fibre bag below a set thickness used to carry goods. Resolution 124 gives 57 micrometres. The English text of Resolution 52 gives the figure as “seventy-five (57)”, words and digits that disagree. Under Resolution 124 a paper carrier bag under the line has been banned since 1 June 2024, the same as a thin plastic one.

Exemptions and export. Article 6 exempts thin bag rolls for meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, grains and bread, and garbage bags. Products for export or re-export are exempt if clearly marked and kept out of UAE markets. Dubai Municipality’s FAQ confirms that items banned since 1 June 2025, such as foam cups and food containers, plastic straws and stirrers, may be exported subject to the destination’s rules but may not be sold in Dubai.

Enforcement. Breach of Article 5 costs AED 200, doubled for a repeat of the same violation within one year, with the doubled fine capped at AED 2,000 (Art. 9). Any stricter penalty in other legislation still applies. Employees nominated by a competent entity act as law enforcement officers and may ask vendors for the identification tag of bags (Art. 10). A grievance goes in writing within 10 working days, and a committee decides within 10 working days (Art. 11). Consumers report outlets through the Department of Economy and Tourism’s Dubai Consumer app, consumerrights.ae or the 600545555 call centre, according to the Municipality’s FAQ.

Federal and Dubai lists side by side

Because the federal and Dubai lists overlap but do not match, Exhibit 5 sets them out item by item for a supplier selling into Dubai and into the other emirates.

Two items set Dubai apart for packaging suppliers: rigid plastic food containers in any polymer, and the earlier date for non-plastic bags. Everything else on the federal list now applies in all seven emirates.

Abu Dhabi: policy first, then a resolution

Abu Dhabi started with a policy. The Environment Agency Abu Dhabi’s Single Use Plastic Policy covered 2020 to 2022 and set out a path from incentives to fees to a full bag ban, fees on cups, lids, cutlery, plates, straws and food containers, a bottle return scheme, and a closed loop circular system for harder items. It refers in several places to work “based on the Extended Producer Responsibility principle”, including for the bottle return scheme and for crisp packets and sweet wrappers.

The policy set three indicators: a 100% cut in single-use plastic bags per customer against a 2019 baseline, 50% plastic bottle collection through the return scheme in 2021 against the same baseline, and 100% of government entities free of single-use plastics. It also planned an Environment Fund, to be set up in 2020, to receive fee revenue. SPI has not yet confirmed whether that fund was set up or what it holds.

The legal step came with EAD Resolution No. (1) of 2022, the Regulation on the Use of Single-Use Plastics and Their Alternatives, issued on 24 March 2022 by the Chairman of the Agency. Exhibit 6 summarises it.

The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development sent the polystyrene circular to more than 50,000 commercial establishments and 80 industrial facilities that make plastics, according to the Abu Dhabi Media Office release of 1 June 2024.

The Agency publishes results, which Dubai and the federal ministry so far do not. Its release of 23 December 2024 reported 364 million single-use bags avoided, about 2,400 tonnes of plastic; bags at cash counters down 95%; shoppers using about 0.4 bags per trip instead of about 3; 97% retailer compliance with the polystyrene ban; and a fall in companies making single-use plastic products in the emirate (Exhibit 7). It described the polystyrene ban as a prelude to the federal ban on targeted polystyrene and plastic products in 2026.

SPI calculation: 2,400 tonnes over 364 million bags is about 6.6 grams of plastic per avoided bag, and the fall from about 3 bags to 0.4 per trip is a drop of about 87% per trip. The fall from 110 to 88 makers is 20% in one year.

What comes next in the UAE: producer responsibility

The UAE’s next step is about who pays for packaging after use. Tadweer Group, Abu Dhabi’s waste management group, reported on 16 July 2025 that it and the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment had signed a memorandum to pilot an extended producer responsibility scheme for electrical and electronic devices, batteries and packaging products. The release places the pilot under the UAE’s Integrated Waste Management Agenda 2023 to 2026 and states that “The responsibilities of the producers and the suppliers were identified in Cabinet Resolution No.39 of 2021”, the executive regulations of Federal Law No. 12 of 2018.

The pilot follows the same logic as Abu Dhabi’s earlier policy, which tied its bottle return scheme to the producer responsibility principle, but at federal level and with packaging named alongside electronics and batteries. The Minister described the project in the release as part of national strategy, and said it is meant to raise accountability across the value chain.

The release does not say which emirates the pilot covers, how long it runs, or whether fees will be charged. SPI has not yet confirmed any UAE packaging EPR fee, registration duty or reporting format, and no UAE producer responsibility organisation is in the SPI Regulation Tracker.

The wider Gulf: still the carrier bag

Outside the UAE, the official texts SPI read regulate mostly bags, by thickness, by sector or by material performance. Exhibit 8 compares them.

Qatar. The Qatar News Agency reported on 23 June 2022 that the Ministry of Municipality’s decision, issued in mid-June “after the Cabinet approved draft Resolution No. (143) for the year 2022”, bans single-use plastic bags from 15 November in sales outlets, companies and shopping centres. The decision defines them as bags “made of plastic mainly and have a thickness of less than 40 microns”. Multi-use bags or biodegradable plastic bags are the permitted alternatives, and each bag must carry a printed symbol showing whether it is biodegradable, reusable or recyclable. More than 1,300 municipal inspectors were to check compliance. The UNEP LEAP record gives six articles and entry into force on 15 November 2022.

Bahrain. Bahrain’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce has built its rules in steps: Decision No. (11) of 2019 on technical regulations for plastic products, Decision No. (77) of 2021 on plastic water bottles under 200 ml, Order No. (14) of 2022 on bags under 35 microns, and Decision No. (7) of 2026, announced on 23 February 2026, on bags under 57 microns. The 2026 decision exempts household waste bags, hazardous healthcare waste bags, packaging for medicines and food, and bags for export, and gives a six-month transitional period to use up stock and let makers comply. The 2022 guideline, issued with the Supreme Council for Environment, adds that importers need a valid Council licence for each imported bag type and that plastic bags used as the main packaging for a product are excluded. SPI has not yet confirmed the date from which the six-month period runs.

Saudi Arabia. SASO made its Technical Regulation for Degradable Plastic Products mandatory in two stages: customs were to block non-conforming imports from 14 April 2017, and non-conforming products were banned from local markets from 3 October 2017. It covers 16 polypropylene and polyethylene products often used for short periods, among them shopping bags, mail bags, deposit bags, postal parcels and bags for bread, sweets and appliances, while plastic products for the medical and food industries are excluded. Products need a licence to carry the SASO logo. SPI has not yet confirmed whether the regulation has been revised since SASO’s page was last updated in December 2019.

Saudi Arabia’s waste law points the same way as the UAE’s pilot. Royal Decree No. M/3 of 2021 issued the Waste Management System, 38 articles in force 60 days after publication, under which the National Waste Management Center licenses activities. The UNEP LEAP record summarises Article 14 as requiring each producer and importer to assume extended producer responsibility, based on the circular economy principle. SPI has not yet confirmed any implementing rule from the National Waste Management Center that sets packaging duties or fees.

Kuwait. SPI has not yet confirmed an official Kuwaiti text that bans or charges for single-use plastic bags or food service items.

Oman's seven phases to July 2027

Oman is the clearest case of a phased bag ban still running. Decision 8/2024, issued on 24 January 2024 and published in Official Gazette No. 1532 of 11 February 2024, repealed Decision 23/2020 and extends the ban on single-use plastic shopping bags under 50 micrometres activity by activity (Exhibit 9). The Environment Authority’s release of 31 December 2024 confirmed the second phase from 1 January 2025 and full implementation by 1 July 2027.

What the fines add up to

Fines in the region are low per breach, but repeats add up, and the rules for repeats differ. Exhibit 10 works through two of them, one currency at a time.

For Dubai, Low and Base use Reading A and High uses Reading B. The gap only opens from the third breach: on five breaches it is AED 3,200. For Oman, Low takes the minimum fine and High the maximum; SPI sets no base because the decision gives a range without guidance on where a fine falls.

Dubai’s 2022 bag resolution followed a similar pattern, with its own cap. Article 7 of Resolution 52 set AED 200 for breaching the vendor duties in Article 6, doubled for a repeat within one year, up to AED 10,000, with fines paid to the Public Treasury of the Government of Dubai. Under both Dubai resolutions a grievance goes in writing to the competent entity; Resolution 52 allows 10 days and Resolution 124 allows 10 working days.

A framework: the Gulf single-use ladder

SPI places each market on a four-rung ladder, from bag standards to producer responsibility. A rung counts only where an official text that SPI read puts it in force (Exhibit 11).

The ladder reads in two ways. For a supplier, each rung up changes the product: rung 1 changes the bag spec, rung 2 removes the bag or prices it, rung 3 removes whole formats, and rung 4 adds a cost and a reporting duty to whatever replaces them. For a market watcher, the UAE has set the pattern the others may follow, and Saudi Arabia’s waste law already contains the rung 4 duty in principle. The Africa piece shows a market, Kenya, that went from a bag ban to producer responsibility rules.

What suppliers must change, and by when

Exhibit 12 turns the rules into product changes for packaging and food service suppliers, market by market.