Based on an agreement last November between the Environment Public Authority (EPA) and the Union of Consumer Cooperative Societies (UCCS) the first phase of the project for using biodegradable bags at the union\'s supermarkets was announced today at a press conference held by EPA\'s director general Dr Salah al-Mudhi. Up to 25 supermarkets run by the UCCS have agreed to go ahead with using the eco-friendly bags instead of the old plastic bags, said al-Mudhi, wishing that the rest of the supermarkets overseen by UCCS would follow suit as soon as possible. The new eco-friendly bags will have the same specifications as the old ones but will be biodegradable in a short time, a fact that will lift the pressure on the landfills where these bags are usually interred, he said. The number of non-biodegradable bags that go to the landfills exceed currently six billions every year, he said, noting that it would take years for them to disintegrate and become degradable. According to an EPA study, the supermarkets of the UCCS use up to 600 plastic bags a minute, which can be reduced to half that number if eco-friendly replacements are used at least by 25 supermarkets. That number will go down even more as the rest of the supermarkets (30 more) use the new bags, said al-Mudhi. He sounded sanguine about the success of the move to using the new bags, as he thought it would resonate well with the public, especially that more people are becoming environmentally aware of the need to reduce the amount of garbage produced by households and businesses. UCCS chairman Abdulaziz al-Samhan noted at the same press conference that the cooperation between his organization and that of the EPA have made it possible that a large number of the supermarkets in the union have begun switching to the new biodegradable bags in a short time period (about six months), although the entire project of replacing the use of the old bags was estimated to take place in about three years. By 2015, he said, all 55 supermarkets will be using the new bags.