Egypt’s ban on single-use plastics in vital Red Sea resorts starts to bite
A ban on single-use plastic products in Egypt’s Red Sea province, home to world-renowned beach destinations, has come into effect, according to the provincial governor.
The move is regarded as a revolutionary step for a country where the environment has been neglected. Governor
Ahmed Abdullah said on Wednesday that supermarkets, groceries and other outlets in the province had diligently observed the ban since it came into force on June 1.
“We have distributed to residents paper bags free of charge to use when they go shopping,” the governor told The National.
The Red Sea province has kept Egypt’s vital tourism sector afloat, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors when political upheavals and violence in Cairo kept away tourists in the years immediately after an uprising in 2011.
The ban, a first in Egypt, was inspired by a memorandum presented to authorities by a voluntary environmental group on the dangers of plastic to humans and marine life.
The ban provides an expanded set of regulations on the use of single-use plastic products that was first announced in 2008 but was never properly implemented.
The ban comes at a time when Egypt is experiencing with great relief a steady increase in the number of foreign visitors after years of falling numbers.
Much of that traffic is going to the Red Sea region, home to popular beach and water sports resorts such as El Gouna, Sahl Hasheesh, Hurghada, Soma Bay, Safaga and Marsa Alam.
Their rich marine life and golden sand beaches may hold the key to the future of tourism in Egypt, a country of 100 million people whose international image as a safe destination occasionally suffers from attacks by militants.
The ban on single-use plastic products in the Red Sea region will enhance the reputation of the resorts and make them more attractive as the number of environmentally aware tourists grows across the world.
The ban applies to restaurants, supermarkets, groceries, pharmacies and cruise and leisure ships that dock in Red Sea waters.
Hotels are not yet included, but most of them are already voluntarily observing the ban, which covers products such as knives, forks, spoons, cups, dishes and bags.
We have distributed to residents paper bags free of charge to use when they go shopping AHMED ABDULLAH Governor of Red Sea province