National Solid Waste Management Program (NSWMP)

Project description

Title: National Solid Waste Management Program (NSWMP)
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and development (BMZ)
Co-funded by: European Union (EU)
Country: Egypt
Lead executing agency: Ministry of Environment
Overall term: 2022 to 2026

Context

With more than 100 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most densely populated country in the Middle East and one of the highest populated countries in Africa. With 100 million tonnes of waste generated per year (including 20.7 million tonnes of municipal waste), the level of waste collection varies between 40 and 85 per cent in urban areas and between 0 and 35 per cent in rural areas. With the submission of the National Sustainability Strategy in 2015 (Egypt Vision 2030), the new waste law (202/2020) and the updated Nationally Determined Contributions to Climate Change, the Egyptian Government has clearly defined its political priorities, among other things. These include the reform process to introduce a climate-sensitive waste-management system and the transformation into a circular economy. The basic institutional prerequisites for the implementation of sectoral strategies have been created with the establishment of the Waste Management Regulatory Authority (WMRA) and the Solid Waste Management Units (SWMUs) in the participating governorates and their municipalities. While most of the relevant strategies are in place, institutional and personnel capacities to implement these strategies are still lacking. There is also a lack of coherent regulations to stimulate “green” private-sector investment.

Objective

State institutions, private companies and non-governmental organisations have stepped up the promotion of a climate-friendly waste and circular economy in Egypt.

Approach

The project follows a multi-level approach. At the macro level, WMRA and the Egyptian Environment Affairs Agency (EEAA) are assisted in the area of institutional development and in implementing their strategies. For example, WMRA intends to launch a regulation for extended producer responsibility, meaning that industries have to pay fees to bring products to the market that potentially transform to waste. Together with EEAA, a circular economy strategy will be defined and formulated and priorities will be set. Moreover, the capabilities of the staff of the Ministry of Environment will be further developed through counselling and training to enable them to perform their mandate and tasks in the policy field. Furthermore, the project’s scope has expanded with the co-funding of the European Union to help enable green entrepreneurs and civil society organisations to implement climate-sensitive circular economy initiatives.

Last update: November 2022