Government survey reveals support for ban on plastic bags in Oman

Oman Sunday 15/July/2018 21:55 PM
By: Times News Service
Government survey reveals support for ban on plastic bags in Oman

Muscat: Close to 90 per cent respondents of a social media survey want plastic bags to go.
The opinion poll was conducted by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs (MECA) through Twitter.
It sought opinion on the use of plastic bags at the shops and commercial centres and whether they should be replaced by decomposable or reusable bags.
The three-day poll got 4,514 respondents 89 per cent of whom voted for stopping the use of plastic bags while 11 per cent voted against such a move.
In all, 130 respondents provided proposals and comments on the disadvantages of using plastic bags and their negative impact on environment. Plastic bags represent a threat to the environment as they stay for hundreds of years without decomposing which leads to contamination of big areas in the cities and beaches.
The presence of plastic bags at beaches, is a risk to the marine environment and a serious threat to turtles, dolphins and other sea creatures.
The Ministry’s efforts to this end comprised field visits to the factories producing plastic bags in the various governorates of the Sultanate as well as study tours to other countries to learn about the integrated practices for registration, control of handling plastic bags.