DUBAI, UAE — September 2026 — The Circular Packaging Association (CPA) and the Multinational Companies Business Group (MCBG) have signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen collaboration on packaging circularity in the UAE. The agreement brings together CPA’s technical expertise and MCBG’s network of 57 multinational companies to support knowledge sharing, evidence-based dialogue and practical approaches to sustainable packaging.
The agreement was signed by Mohamed Ali Eldabaa, chairman of CPA, and Turki Bin Moammar, chairperson of MCBG.
Through the partnership, the two organizations will exchange international best practices and support the UAE’s transition toward circular economy. By combining CPA’s technical knowledge with MCBG’s cross-sector business insights, the partnership will create opportunities for multinational companies and industry stakeholders to engage on circular economy priorities.
Commenting on the partnership, Mohamed Ali Eldabaa, CPA’s chairman, said: “Advancing packaging circularity requires collaboration across industries and sectors. Through our partnership with MCBG, we can bring together expertise and the diverse perspectives of multinational businesses operating in the region. By sharing knowledge and practical experience, we hope to support informed dialogue and contribute to solutions that are scalable, commercially viable and aligned with the UAE’s sustainability ambitions.”
Under the MoU, CPA and MCBG will collaborate on knowledge sharing, thought leadership, advocacy, awareness and stakeholder engagement initiatives. The organizations will explore opportunities to exchange global experiences and best practices while helping ensure that lessons from international markets are adapted in ways that remain relevant to local priorities and business realities.
Highlighting the value of the collaboration, Turki Bin Moammar, MCBG’s chairperson, said: “MCBG’s members bring experience from multiple markets and regulatory systems, along with deep knowledge of the UAE market and its priorities. Our collective perspective can help connect circularity ambitions with decisions across investment, innovation, supply chains and operations. Through this partnership, MCBG aims to build alignment around practical priorities and help create clearer pathways from ambition to implementation.”
The Circular Packaging Association (CPA) launched in 2023 as an industry working group licensed under Dubai Chambers. It is the first cross-sector circular economy platform working to transform the packaging value chain, and it grew out of work started in 2019 by founding members of the CIRCLE Coalition for innovation in recycling toward a closed-loop economy.
CIRCLE was formalized under the sponsorship of the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment through a memorandum of understanding to build a circular economy for packaging across the GCC. CPA works to embed circular and green economy principles across the packaging value chain in the UAE, shifting from a take-make-dispose model to one that treats packaging waste as a resource.
CPA also works to raise consumer awareness and provide recommendations on sustainable packaging legislation and policy, using a data-driven, multi-stakeholder approach.
CPA members include:
About The Multinational Companies Business Group MCBG:
The Multinational Companies Business Group is an industry working group registered in Dubai since 2016. Consisting of 57 large regional and international companies, MCBG encompasses a broad range of sectors including manufacturing, technology, energy, health care, retail, automotive and allied industries, food and beverages, financial services, logistics and fast-moving consumer goods. More than half of MCBG member companies are Fortune Global 500 companies.
MCBG aims at promoting knowledge, skills and best practices with respect to investment, business, industry, trade and sustainability policy, and at engaging in constructive dialogue with government and other stakeholders around those policies.
MCBG was founded in Dubai on initiative by some multinational companies united by the conviction of working together to enhance public/private dialogue and to contribute to shaping and improving government and regulatory policy.
