Rules requiring bottle tops to remain attached could reduce the growth of microplastic pollution in the UAE, researchers have said.
A study has shown that only one summer of exposure to the heat and sunlight of the Emirates makes plastic bottle tops brittle and liable to ultimately break into microplastics.
Although pavements and roads are often swept clear of rubbish, the scientists found that in Al Ain, bottle tops accumulated on waste ground are often open to the elements.
Tethered plastic bottle tops have been a legal requirement in the EU since July 2024, with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre finding a 40 per cent reduction in single-use plastic litter on EU coastlines.
The study, called Plastic Bottle Tops – A Major Source of Plastic in the Terrestrial Environment of the United Arab Emirates, has been written by eight researchers, all from UAE University’s department of chemistry or department of biology.
Thies Thiemann, a former professor of chemistry at UAE University and the senior author of the study, said he and his fellow researchers did not find many plastic bottles discarded in Al Ain, but came across numerous bottle tops.
“There is some waste collecting and especially debris collecting. Although UAE cities have sweepers to collect the waste, there are lots of areas that are not built up – we might call them wasteland – and there we do see that, especially, plastic waste starts collecting,” he said.
Researchers calculate that in more polluted parts of Al Ain, the concentration of plastic bottle tops along roadsides and on pavements is equivalent to one bottle top per 12.5 to 33.3 square metres.
Mahra Al Kaabi, an Emirati researcher at UAE University and the first author of the study, said once the bottle tops break, little can be done to reverse the pollution.
“When those fragments happen and microplastics turn to nanoplastics, it’s very hard to take them out of the environment,” she said.
She indicated that it was therefore important to prevent plastic pollution from entering the environment or human bodies. Research in other countries has found microplastics in many human and animal tissues, including the human brain.
Measures like those in the European Union could mean that fewer plastic bottle tops are discarded, which could cut the amount of microplastics entering the environment.
“Adopting a similar regulation in the UAE as the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive could help reduce the accumulation of plastic bottle tops in the environment of the UAE,” they wrote in Sustainability.
Prof Thiemann said there had been “push back” from the public in the EU following the introduction of the new legislation, but the rules appeared to be achieving their aims.
“They feel it is uncomfortable in such a way that the bottle top interferes when drinking directly out of the bottle,” he said.
“But in Europe at least, much fewer bottle tops are found in the environment, maybe due to this new legislation that came about in 2024.”
A preliminary study by Prof Thiemann found that the concentration of plastic bottle tops in the German town of Pinneberg is only around one per cent of that in Al Ain.
While tethered plastic bottle tops are not a requirement in the UAE, the country has taken numerous measures to cut down on single-use plastics, including plastic bags.
This measure has been credited with reducing plastic bag waste in the environment, which in turn is said to have cut the problem of camels eating bags, which accumulate in their stomachs and can cause fatal starvation.
Significant study
Dr Habiba Al Marashi, the co-founder and chairperson of Emirates Environmental Group, described the UAE University research on bottle tops as “timely and significant”.
She said the EU’s requirement for tethered bottle caps exemplified how “thoughtful product design” could reduce plastic leakage into the environment.
“As the UAE continues to demonstrate regional leadership in environmental sustainability and the transition towards a circular economy, it would certainly be worthwhile to evaluate whether similar design measures could complement the country’s existing initiatives to reduce plastic pollution,” she said.
“Any future policy would, of course, benefit from careful consultation with manufacturers, recyclers, retailers, researchers and consumers to ensure it is practical, effective and aligned with the UAE’s regulatory framework.”
Dr Al Marashi said she would also like to see monotype plastic bottles – those that are made from just one sort of plastic – produced in the UAE, as this would improve recyclability.
Earlier this year, in a separate study, Prof Thiemann and co-researchers, some from the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, found high levels of microplastics in the waters off Abu Dhabi.
Even offshore islands recorded elevated concentrations, suggesting the microplastics may have travelled from elsewhere in the Arabian Gulf, which has anti-clockwise surface currents.
