Project type                                                                                     Waste management

Partnership

The Egyptian capital is plagued with illegal dumping, street dumping and fly tipping, which involves the illegal dumping of liquid or solid waste on the ground or in water. Waste is usually dumped to avoid disposal costs, resulting in environmental and public health issues. In 2018, 44.8% of households got rid of their waste by dumping it in the streets of Cairo. Electronic waste is one such waste.

The Ministry of Environment, in collaboration with UNDP and the Municipality of Cairo, launched an application called E-Tadweer to deal with this problem of electronic waste. It is an online application that aims to encourage the recycling of old electrical and electronic devices in Egypt, so that consumers derive maximum benefit from it, in addition to the benefits of recycling for the environment and society.

Users will upload photos of their electronic waste (computers, television screens, mobile or landline phones, video game consoles, etc.), and depending on the type of waste, each user will be directed to a specific collection point to drop off the device. Users will then receive electronic vouchers provided by the partner companies that receive the waste to be recycled.

Regarding recycling, the Ministry of Environment has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Environmental Compliance and Sustainability Development Office of the Federation of Egyptian Industries to find ways to involve electronics manufacturers in this initiative with incentives to set up recycling facilities and dispose of electronics safely. The Office of Environmental Compliance and Sustainability Development ensures that facilities have the technical know-how and financial capabilities to carry out recycling. Facilities are approved by the Ministry of the Environment if they recycle safely without producing toxic gases or pollution as might be the case with the informal sector. The Office of Environmental Compliance and Sustainability Development also tries to encourage informal establishments that recycle to do so in an environmentally friendly way.

The collected waste is transferred to structures that sort the raw materials such as copper and plastic. These are then delivered to other factories which use them in the manufacture of other products.

• Over 170,000 app downloads
• 84,200 active users registered on the platform
• 2500 unloadings
• 44.76 tonnes of CO2 emissions avoided