Don’t use plastic bags, bakeries told

Saudi Gazette report DAMMAM — The Eastern Province municipalities launched on Sunday an awareness campaign to replace plastic bags with paper bags in bakeries, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. The campaign started at the end of a grace period given to bakeries to provide paper bags instead of pieces of carton or plastic bags to sell flat breads, said Director General of Public Relations and Spokesman of the Eastern Province Mayoralty Muhammad Al-Sufayyan. The municipalities of Dammam, Al-Khobar and Dhahran are carrying out this campaign by distributing paper bags to bakeries and urging consumers to use paper bags instead of plastic bags. Using plastic bags in the packaging of hot bread and meals make these bags flexible and able to interact with high heat resulting in release of the carcinogenic dioxin.