Plant-based plastic: Dubai start-up brings the future to store shelves

Newly founded Emirates Biotech plans to make greener plastic that can be composted in 90 days

Slices , a chain of organic bistros in Abu Dhabi, uses sustainable packaging including boxes and cups made out of recycled paper and coffee lids made of bio-degradable plastic. Fatima Al Marzooqi/ The NationalShow less

A Dubai start-up is aiming to help address plastic use affecting the UAE's water, wildlife and carbon footprint by making a greener version from plants.

The newly founded Emirates Biotech hopes to make bioplastics in the UAE and eventually export them to India, Turkey and Europe.

It is pinning its hopes on the growth of an alternative plastic typically made from corn and sugar, known as PLA, for use in household items and 3D printing.

The company is joint venture between SS Royal Kit Emirates Investment, with Sheikh Suhail Al Maktoum as a shareholder, and Global Biopolymers Industries.

Emirates Biotech is a joint venture between SS Royal Kit Emirates Investment, with Sheikh Suhail Al Maktoum, second right, as a shareholder, and Global Biopolymers Industries. Also pictured are, from left, Shadi Jabari of SS Royal Kit Emirates Investment, Emirates Biotech chief executive Mark Verbruggen and Hasan Khalaf, right. Photo: Emirates Biotech

Marc Verbruggen, its Belgian-born chief executive, told The National the product's carbon footprint could be 30 to 50 per cent lower than traditional fossil fuel-based plastic.

In addition, waste such as bottle caps could be composted and recycled in as little as 90 days under the right conditions, he said.

“If I look around here in Dubai and I see the massive amount of plastic being used on a daily basis, you would make a difference if you move from those traditional plastics to PLA,” he said.

“Let's be honest, plastics are a fantastic product, and they actually are so fantastic that we have too much of it now, and we don't really know what to do with it on the back end, especially disposable plastics.

“What a product like PLA does is that rather than just looking at recycling and hopefully reuse, you actually add another way of ultimately recycling the product by looking at composting. We call it organic recycling.”

Dubai last month brought in a ban on single-use plastic bags in a push to cut waste. Abu Dhabi banned them in 2022.

Abu Dhabi and Dubai have banned single-use plastic bags in a campaign to cut waste. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Microplastics have been found in oyster beds off the UAE coast and in soil samples at Al Ain parks, raising environmental concerns.

Camels have died because of lumps of plastic waste in their stomachs and studies have shown that the average person in the UAE uses 450 water bottles a year.

Last year's Cop28 climate summit in Dubai heard that “business-as-usual” growth in plastic use would burn through a fifth of the CO2 the world can afford to use.

Middle East market

Abu Dhabi and Dubai's bans will be widened from 2025, to include products such as plastic straws, and again from 2026 to cover single-use plastic containers.

“This region has clearly indicated to the world – and organising a Cop was one of those indications – that they want to become a player in the space of sustainable materials,” Mr Verbruggen said.

“The introduction of bioplastics is a global phenomenon but particularly this region, both for local use and ultimately for export to Europe, India and Turkey, I think is a great opportunity.”

Bioplastics account for about 0.5 per cent of the world's plastic production, according to a European industry lobby.

There has been controversy over whether compostable bags contain more toxic chemicals, with negative scientific findings disputed by industry bosses.

Sheikh Suhail Al Maktoum signing a partnership agreement with Theodorus Everwijn of Global Biopolymers Industries. Photo: Emirates Biotech

Emirates Biotech hopes to start building its first plant in the UAE by 2026 and have it up and running in 2027 or 2028.

However, the recycling vision will only be realised if there are industrial composting plants in the UAE to “make the story complete”, Mr Verbruggen said.

His company also faces the challenge of scaling up production without making its greener plastic too pricey for the market.

“It has to be working for brands, it has to be working for the consumer. We can't just say 'hey, here was your polyethylene cup, now it's a PLA cup, now you're going to pay 20 times as much',” he said.

“You have to find that right balance. We have a lot of experience in the company selling this type of product globally, for different applications and to different end users. So it's up to us to make it work.”