Stores stock up on reusable bags as plastic bag ban commences in Oman

Stores stock up on reusable bags as plastic bag ban commences in Oman

Muscat: Many shops in Oman had to order for reusable bags, following the ban on single-use plastic bags in the country.With a ban on plastic bags starting on 1 January, many outlets had already made alternatives made from cloth and paper available to customers before it came into effect. High demand, though, means many customers needed to wait for more reusable bags to arrive on shelves, or had to go elsewhere to find them.“All of our reusable bags were sold out in the morning of January 1 alone,” said a supervisor at a multinational supermarket chain in Oman. “We have ordered for more bags and they are expected soon.”In the absence of bags in some stores, customers had resorted to other alternatives. A couple of them took home their groceries in empty cardboard boxes provided by the stores, while those who lived, or were parked near them, and had just a few things to buy carried their purchases in their hands.Many other shops and restaurants, however, had plenty of stock to provide their customers, and were also selling them at a nominal fee to them. One shop in Ruwi, for example, made cloth bags available for just 100 baisas each,