‘No additional costs’ for biodegradable garbage bags

Biodegradable garbage bags that are being rolled out following the new legislations will come at no extra costs, according to official sources. The source from the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning said that distribution of garbage bags will continue as usual without any changes. He said that there are specific fees for garbage bags as they are contained within the municipal fees.

This comes in accordance with the Ministerial Resolution No 11 of 2019 regarding the technical regulations for plastic products, which will enter into force from July 21, banning all single use plastics bags across the Kingdom. Meanwhile, the Director-General of the Capital Municipal Council, Shawqiya Humaidan stated that the municipality has conveyed to the garbage bag suppliers to incorporate new eco-friendly and biodegradable make up.

A study conducted by the SCE revealed that the transition to eco-friendly and biodegradable garbage bags will not affect the plastic products manufacturing sector in Bahrain. “The SCE has implemented measures to expand the number of recycling businesses by increasing the total number of recycling bins, thereby reducing plastic-waste that ends up in landfills,” said Supreme Council for Environment Chief Executive Officer Dr Mohammed Bin Daina. He highlighted that 40 per cent of household waste is plastic, which can only be effectively reduced through prohibition and regulation.      

The residents of Manama will soon be able to receive garbage bags from vending machines. The Capital Municipality, in collaboration with the Ministry of Works, Municipal Affairs and Urban Planning, intends to install automated garbage bag vending ma - chines to provide garbage bags for the residents of the governorate. The municipality looks to follow the success of the Southern Governorate that has installed similar systems earlier this year. According to the plans, the machine will store and provide the black garbage bags to the residents that need them.

Garbage bag vending machines project is named “Sahal” which translates to “Easy”. The vending machines are meant to be user friendly, only requiring the users ID number and EWA account number to check eligibility of the user to receive the bag.  The project was first launched in the Southern Governorate in April. Furthermore, the Ministry of Works, Municipal Affairs and Urban Planning is considering launching the machines in all governorates. The ministry hopes to cover all important locations in Bahrain with such machines.