Carrefour announces 600,000 reusable bags sold in six months

Carrefour's reusable bag campaign that was launched on February 26th, 2007 in the UAE, aimed at creating awareness on the impact of plastic bags that pollute our ecosystem each year and encouraging shoppers to reduce their use. Supported by the Ministry of Environment and Water, and Emirates Diving Institute the campaign is slowly gaining momentum in the 10 Carrefour stores located across the seven emirates. Carrefour has registered total sales of 600,000 reusable plastic bags in UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and KSA.

"UAE was our trial market, hence we focused our campaign on creating awareness of plastic bag usage and its impact on the environment. Encouraged by the stupendous response of our customers we decided to export this campaign to some of the neighboring markets including; Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia,"

said Jean Luc Graziato, Vice President of Marketing and Sourcing at MAF Hypermarkets (Carrefour).

Carrefour's reusable bag campaign is actively supported by the following governmental organizations; the Supreme Council for the Environment and Natural Reserves (SCENR) in Qatar, the Ministry of Regional Municipality, Environment and Water Resources in Oman, the Environmental Public Authority in Kuwait and by Presidency of Meteorology and Environment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. "Carrefour is thankful for the enthusiastic support by the local governments in making this campaign a success," said Graziato.

Available at checkout counters as an alternative to plastic bags, the Carrefour reusable bag are sold at cost price. "If they are damaged at any point, the bags can be replaced at any Carrefour outlet free of charge," added Graziato. "This is just one small step towards making a big difference to our environment."