Plastic bag alternative promoted in Alex.

Minister of Environment Yasmeen Fouad Friday met restauranteurs and retailers in the northern coastal city of Alexandria.

The meeting is in line with a ministry initiative to encourage the public to use fewer plastic bags.

The ministry is now drawing up the executive regulations of the Waste Management Law, which was approved by President Abdel Fattah el Sisi mid-October last year.

Fouad said she would take the views of those whom she met in Alexandria yesterday into consideration when drafting the executive regulations.

The minister listened to retailers explain the problems they would face if an alternative to plastic bags is enforced.

Fouad said her ministry’s latest initiative on the plastic bags is part of a wider campaign to increase public awareness of the environment.

Around 110 retail outlets in the Zamalek district of Cairo have already scrapped single-use plastic bags in favour of environment-friendly alternatives, the minister said.