UAE’s retail group Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) has announced the launch of its new campaign to reduce the use of single-use plastic across the group, including 26 malls, 13 hotels, 46 VOX Cinemas and close to 300 Carrefour stores.
The retail group is aiming to eliminate single-use plastic usage totally by 2025, and to fulfil this objective the team is encouraging and incentivising its customers to use reusable and recyclable bags.
"The campaign involves removal of freely distributed plastic grocery bags from all Carrefour stores in 17 markets by 2025, as well as other single-use plastic items from across the company’s business units, inclusive of straws, cutlery, containers and trays”, says Hani Weiss, Chief Executive Officer at MAF– Retail.
Products that are sold like garbage bags, detergent bottles and cleaning products will still be available for customers to purchase.
Loyalty Programme
Customers can sign up for MAF’s new lifestyle reward programme, ‘Share’, and will receive reward points on buying re-usable bags between 6 and 7 November.
Weiss says, “We started to incentivise our customers through our loyalty programme if they come back with our reusable bags. Hopefully by the end of next year, we will implement this loyalty programme in all of our 17 markets operational by next year."
Earn NoL cards points
In cooperation with the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and Dubai Roads and Transport Authority, MAF group has also launched a plastic bottle recycling initiative. “Customers who deposit 50 plastic bottles at the recycling station will be issued a Nol card loaded with Dhs 25. The first 500 customers will be provided these Nol Cards. After that we will be linking the incentive scheme with our loyalty programme and will issue points to those who deposit plastic bottles,” says Ibrahim Al-Zu’bi, Chief Sustainability Officer, MAF-Holding.