Egypt’s Minister of Environment, Yasmine Fouad, witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Waste Management Regulatory Authority and the UAE’s Tadweer Group to explore and develop cooperation and investment opportunities in the waste management and recycling sector in Egypt.
The signing was attended by Mohamed El-Zamlout, Governor of the New Valley, and Mokhtar Abdel Latif, Chairperson of the Arab Organization for Industrialization, where the Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Yasser Abdullah, Assistant Minister for Waste Affairs and Acting CEO of the Waste Management Regulatory Authority, and Ali Mohamed Al Dhaheri, CEO of Tadweer Group.
The Minister of Environment said that the Memorandum of Understanding between the two parties aims to discuss available investment opportunities and areas of partnership between the public and private sectors, exchange expertise and knowledge in the fields of waste management and recycling, training, capacity building, and awareness in the recycling and waste management sector, and exchange information, studies, and research.
The Minister of Environment highlighted that the proposed investments span a variety of sectors, including agricultural waste. This includes a project to establish a factory in New Valley that will recycle palm frond waste, producing MDF wood. The Arab Organization for Industrialization, the New Valley Governorate, and the Waste Management Regulatory Authority are collaborating on this project, which has the potential to invest up to 70 million euros.
The Minister of Environment went on to say that the proposed investment opportunities also include cooperation in the field of used oils (SAF) through coordination with the Egyptian Petrochemicals Company, with an estimated investment cost of 530 million euros.
She pointed out that these oils, as waste, were considered, and a decision was issued by the Cabinet to grant the Waste Management Regulatory Authority the right to grant companies operating in the field of collecting used cooking oil waste the necessary licenses to ensure that these wastes are not used unsafely and recycled in an unhealthy manner.
A project to recycle rubber waste and produce soft tyre powder, a natural rubber substitute for playground floors, artificial turf, and shoes, is one of the proposed investment opportunities, according to the Minister of Environment. The estimated investment value of this project is 14 million euros.
According to the Governor of the New Valley, the total number of palm trees in the governorate exceeds 4 million, and the total volume of waste reaches 67,627 tons annually. This calls for the safe disposal of this waste through its manufacture and creation of added value, in line with the governorate’s commitment to environmentally safe and sustainable practices.
Ali Al Dhaheri, Managing Director and CEO of Tadweer Group, said that the agreement prioritizes building capacities and raising awareness in the field of recycling, and this agreement represents the beginning of a promising path towards regional progress in waste management, while at the same time embodying the partners’ commitment to developing sustainable and innovative solutions.
