Dubai: Up to 2,500 eco-friendly iftar bags were distributed to people in the UAE by global science-led health care company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in support of the Year of Zayed.
A team of 50 volunteers from GSK’s office in the UAE offered iftar meals in sustainable bags to people across Abu Dhabi and Dubai last week.
The bags, which are produced by EnTec, an environment services company, are made of an eco-friendly material, designed to be rewashed and reused, in order to help reduce plastic bag waste.
GSK also distributed another 6,000 eco-friendly iftar meal bags to people across the GCC as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative.
The initiative aims to bring to life the values of sustainability and human development, as well as humanitarianism and promoting environmental sustainability.
“We believe in giving back to the communities we operate in and we are delighted to help make a difference today, however small,” said Sally Storey, vice-president and general manager of GSK in the GCC.
“GSK was established more than 30 years ago in the UAE, during the rule of the late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Founding Father of the UAE. Ever since, the emirates has provided us with innumerable opportunities to become one of the most innovative companies helping over six million people across the UAE do more, feel better and live longer,” she added.
According to GSK’s last assessment in 2016, 88 per cent of its packaging is sourced responsibly. By 2020, GSK’s goal is to source globally at least 90 per cent of the paper packaging from responsible sources. And, in 2017 only, GSK’s employees contributed 40,000 hours globally in volunteering activities across all its flagship programmes.
