Egypt’s Minister of the Environment, Yasmine Fouad; held a meeting with representatives of a German company specialising in extended product liability systems to discuss ways to create a supportive climate for moving forward in preparing a national system for extended product liability and reducing the use of single-use plastic bags.
This came in the presence of Ali Abu Sunna, the Chief of the Environmental Affairs Agency, Tariq Al-Arabi, the Head of the Waste Management Regulatory Agency, and a number of representatives of the Ministry of Environment and experts.
During the meeting, Fouad reviewed one of the models of the extended product liability system proposed in the field of plastic waste and packaging and the circulation of single-use plastic bags.
The minister listened to a detailed explanation about the extended product liability policy and its applications in some other countries, its advantages and obstacles, and the German company’s presentation about the German model in applying the extended product liability policy in terms of the nature of the executing agency, the procedures governing its application, and the method of implementation.
For his part, the representative of the German company confirmed that the climate in Egypt is promising for implementing the policy of extended product liability, especially with the steps taken by the Egyptian state recently in developing the waste management system.
He also reviewed a proposal for application in Egypt in terms of infrastructure requirements, and the expected returns for manufacturers and producers if they adopt an extended product liability policy, such as reducing waste management and reuse expenses, which also benefits the environment by reducing the refuse that is finally disposed of, which ultimately leads to achieving sustainability, and the experience of applying this policy in Germany since the nineties of the last century until it became a common concept adopted by manufacturers and citizens.
The Minister of Environment explained that the idea of the extended product liability is based on the waste-producing body tracking the path of this waste until it reaches the stage of recycling or safe disposal, which is one of the basic ideas within the new waste management law, and the extended product liability system is one of the system’s management mechanisms that help to face problems. and the current challenges it faces.
The minister added that the planning, regulatory and oversight role of the Waste Management Regulatory Agency includes studying the most appropriate ways and mechanisms to implement the extended product liability policy in a way that benefits the producer, the consumer and the environment at the same time.
