Reusing discarded materials and products to make new ones or repurposing them is not new. In March 2023, The Financial Times published an article stating that recycling waste might date back to Plato in the 4th century BC. According to a 2006 book titled “Recycle: The Essential Guide,” recycling gained popularity “during periods when resources were scarce.”

In 2024, trepidation continues about what will happen when resources are depleted, especially “rare earth materials” used in electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels, which experts say could eventually replace fossil fuel powered products.

The problem with excessive consumption is humans cannot remake raw materials. “They were formed, along with Earth, billions of years ago,” Xiaozhi Lim, a science reporter for Discover magazine, noted in a 2020 article. Miners are now “looking for natural ores in places once considered too remote.”

The opportunity to take advantage of recycling is huge. “After a century of heavy industrial activity, we … have a wealth of … waste … full of reclaimable elements,” noted Lim.

An April report by the Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) highlighted some of Egypt’s recycling rules and regulations, and showcased promising business opportunities.

Local landscape

Realizing the importance of reusing waste, the government has included recycling in the Egypt Vision 2030 plan, published in 2015. In 2021, it  launched E-Tadweer, an app that helps consumers send unwanted electronic devices to specialized recyclers. To encourage use of  the app, the government grants them a discount voucher for new devices on top of the cash they receive for their recycled devices.

The IDSC report said those efforts happened “despite very little data and information about the feasibility of the models they eventually used.” The document pointed out that those efforts prioritize electronic waste recycling.

Recycling other types of waste still requires garbage collectors to separate organic and inorganic waste and send promising materials to the correct recyclers for a fee.

In an earlier report, the IDSC said as of June 2023, Egypt had 28 recycling factories with plans to double that to 56, without specifying a deadline.

Regulating recycling

The IDSC’s 2024 report said the overarching legal definition governing recycling in Egypt is “waste management.” It describes any activity whose purpose is to “control” waste material. The document added the definition is flexible enough to regulate the management and repurposing of existing and future types of waste.

The law also has an expanded legal definition of “industrial waste,” compared to other types of byproducts. “That extended definition allows manufacturers to be eligible for the ‘Green Badge,’ which requires them to not just dispose of their waste safely, but use recycled materials,” the IDSC said.

To regulate recycling, the government amended the 2020 Recycling Law in 2022 to allow each governorate to plan how to dispose of their waste. However, the Waste Management Regulatory Authority (WMRA) must approve the plans.

The law also requires waste producers to have a “pyramid-shaped diagram” showing how a product is recycled, repurposed, reclaimed and disposed of. The diagram, along with WMRA’s decision and comments, is then sent to the Industry Development Authority for filing and reference.

The law also requires companies that produce waste to prove they have trained personnel managing the discarded materials.

Additionally, WMRA requires waste producers to have a committee comprising officials from several government agencies and ministries to supervise the disposal and recycling processes.

The manufacturer also must have a detailed register of all the waste materials it produces and  a “field map” detailing the processes and technologies used at each stage of the recycling and waste treatment process. It must also include a list of recyclable and nonrecyclable materials permanently or temporarily stored at a facility.

The law requires manufacturers to prove that no recycled or original materials are classified as hazardous by Egyptian law.

Lastly, companies get precedence when applying for a “Green Badge” if their products are designed to be easily disassembled and recycled, and a “significant portion” of components are recyclable. The IDSC report doesn’t mention the minimum percentage of recyclable material required for a product to qualify.

Missed opportunity: Plastic

The IDSC report said plastic recycling is a promising business opportunity, particularly in Egypt, given the country’s population size, young demographic and low awareness of the risks of using plastics, particularly outside major cities.

“Over the decades, plastic proved to be a versatile product. It is affordable for many industries – from cars and construction to packaging,” the IDSC report said. “Efforts to replace plastic have largely not lived up to expectations, particularly in packaging, as alternatives are significantly more expensive.”

Additionally, “government agencies, manufacturers and brands need to invest in raising consumer awareness of plastic alternatives and changing their behavior,” the report said. “That would be difficult to implement at this stage.”

Another reason plastic recycling will boom for years to come is “demand for plastic is multiplying”in fast-growing regions like Asia and Africa. The report forecasts that by 2060, plastic consumption by those two continents will quadruple.

That would be a significant amount of plastics, as the combined populations of Asia and Africa represent 77.3% of the global population.

Meanwhile, low awareness of the risks of plastic waste means unsafe disposal of plastics will remain a significant problem. “By 2060, non-degradable plastic waste will have increased by over 180% from 2019 levels,” the IDSC said. “The amount thrown in the ocean will be an even higher 300%.”

To slow that pace, the IDSC stressed the need for more plastic recyclers and reliable supply chains. “Thankfully, the ‘circular plastic economy’ concept is gaining momentum worldwide. It is not only about promoting sustainable recycling of plastics, but also encouraging manufacturers to use more recycled materials.”

That would create investment opportunities, starting from the collection phase and continuing throughout the entire recycling process. “The forecast is that plastic recycling will increase fivefold between 2019 and 2060,” the report said.

Agri-waste reusing

With agriculture accounting for 15% of Egypt’s GDP as of June, according to government data, and the country’s large predominantly young population, local food consumption and waste are high. “North Africa and West Asia have the highest volume of food losses (waste) in the world, accounting for 32% of global food waste,” IDSC said.

The report noted that waste occurs throughout the local supply chain. During production, losses happen from insects and rodents infiltrating storage, harsh hot weather, crop diseases, spoilage during transportation and damage during manual harvesting, IDSC said.

The report said food can spoil when transported between various stops in the local supply chain and during treatment. Excess consumption also creates food waste.

Recycling food is unlike repurposing other waste. Agriculture waste is very specific and almost impossible to prevent or decrease without reducing the amount of food produced. “Food waste comes from processing it,” IDSC said. “The leftovers are seeds, outer shells, and other secondary components that aren’t edible.”

To prevent the bulk of that waste from ending up in landfills, the IDSC report said the government and companies need to introduce and develop new industries that benefit from each type of waste. The list of such uses includes “bio-coal, which has a lower carbon footprint when ignited than the normal variant. It can also be used to enhance fertilizers.” There is

 biofuel, which is considered “a renewable source of energy,” the IDSC said, given that it uses plants that can be regrown.

Tech and metals

Recycling electronic equipment is essential, particularly in Egypt, where the ICT sector has expanded 16% annually for the past five years, making it the fastest-growing sector in the country.

New technologies, especially those using artificial intelligence, fuel the need for faster personal computers, smartphones, servers, sensors and control units. “Technology serves as a catalyst for change … It is reshaping work processes, production methods and consumption patterns.” said Stefan Calimanu, vice president of trade and export services at ResearchFDI, a think tank, in May 2023.

Recycling unwanted electronic devices is necessary, as they contain hazardous materials, including mercury, arsenic, lead and cadmium.

They also contain vital “rare earth materials” used in manufacturing clean energy products, such as “lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, samarium, europium, terbium, and dysprosium,” Keith Kirkpatric, research director at The Futurum Group, a think tank, wrote in the publication “Communications of the ACM.” The IDSC also noted that such devices contain general-purpose minerals like gold and copper.

Electronic waste recycling will have a spillover effect, the IDSC said. It will reduce dependence on fresh mineral resources, protect the environment from hazardous materials found in those devices and increase job opportunities for low-skill workers such as collectors and drivers, as well as those with advanced skills who operate the recycling plants.

Using recycled materials is good for business as they are “cheaper than using new raw materials or components. That means lower consumer prices. Using repurposed materials will also accelerate production and save energy, as it is much faster and energy efficient than mining for fresh minerals.”

The IDSC forecasts that global recycling of the electronics waste industry will increase from $60.4 billion in 2023 to $91.6 billion by 2032.

Data, data

To attract recycling investments, the IDSC report stressed the need for accurate, reliable and extensive research on the targeted materials. “The lack of reliable data will increase the investment costs for recyclers as they must pay out of pocket to identify the capabilities of the local recycling supply chain. That ranges from where to get good-quality recyclable materials to who and where they will be used.”

The IDSC report noted that without such information, recyclers risk producing more recycled materials than needed. That is a big problem, “as this is a demand-driven industry.”

Another downside the report noted is that without accurate data, “the government can’t price waste correctly, can’t determine the feasibility of various incentive programs, and can’t run effective awareness programs based on the types of waste and where they are produced.”

This article was first published in August’s print edition of Business Monthly.