Hamdan bin Mohammed launches ‘Dubai Can’ – an innovative citywide sustainability initiative to empower communities to reduce the use of single-use plastic bottles

- Initiative is part of the leadership’s strategic plan to make Dubai a leading sustainable destination and the best city in the world to live, work and visit

- New initiative aims to encourage communities to take action to reduce the use of single-use plastic water bottles in their daily lives

- More than 30 drinking water stations will be located across Dubai to encourage residents and visitors to ‘refill for life’

- Initiative is aligned with the Dubai 2040 Urban Masterplan and Dubai’s commitment to helping the UAE achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals and UAE NetZero 2050 initiative.

The tap water in the UAE is safe to drink from the source. However, it is necessary to instal an extra filter on the tap to ensure that no impurities entered the water from the pipes and water tanks. However, not many people are doing so and the majority of households are buying water in plastic bottles of different sizes. This is of course a threat to the environment as a single plastic bottle requires 400 years to decompose naturally.

To encourage the population of Dubai to stop buying water in plastic bottles and rather refill in specialised refill stations, the Government of Dubai installed an extra 30 refilling stations across Dubai. This is however not a new phenomenon. In Dubai, there were already many places where one could find refilling stations of some kind. For example, Ibn Battuta Mall offered to refill water stations, and several governmental public parks, as well as several private villas in certain areas, would offer water stations for those who are passing by.

More than 30 public water refilling stations across Dubai.

The ‘Dubai Can’ initiative also complements the policy recently approved by The Executive Council of Dubai to limit single-use bags. As per the policy, a tariff of 25 fils will be imposed on single-use bags used for carrying goods, starting from July 1, 2022. The policy will be evaluated over several stages until single-use carrier bags are completely banned within a span of two years.