Although the waste generated in Egypt far exceeds the government's processing capacity and processing capacity, Cairo has used waste as a new investment opportunity to use its power generation.
Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli announced that it will purchase electricity generated from waste disposal at a price of 8 cents per kilowatt hour.
According to the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, Egypt’s annual waste production is about 96 million tons. The World Bank stated that if Egypt neglects to recycle and utilize the waste, it will lose 1.5% of its GDP (US$5.7 billion per year). This does not include the cost of having to dispose of waste and its environmental impact.
Egyptian officials said they hope to increase the proportion of waste and renewable energy generation to 55% of the country's total energy production by 2050. The Ministry of Electricity revealed that it will give the private sector the opportunity to use waste to generate electricity and invest in ten dedicated power plants.
The Ministry of Environment cooperated with the National Bank of Egypt, the Bank of Egypt, the National Investment Bank and Maadi Engineering Industries under the Ministry of Military Production to establish the first Egyptian Waste Management Joint Stock Company. The new company is expected to play a key role in the waste disposal process.
At present, about 1,500 garbage collection companies in Egypt are operating normally, providing more than 360,000 job opportunities.
Households, shops and markets in Egypt can generate about 22 million tons of waste each year, of which 13.2 million tons are kitchen waste and 8.7 million tons are paper, cardboard, soda bottles and cans.
In order to improve the efficiency of waste utilization, Cairo is seeking to sort waste from the source. On October 6th last year, it began formal operations in Helwan, New Cairo, Alexandria, and cities in the Delta and northern Cairo. Three categories: metal, paper and plastic, used in advanced power plants.
This field opened up new investment horizons and attracted foreign investors to enter the Egyptian market. The investment in converting waste into electricity is still the best way to deal with solid waste. Technical and financial feasibility studies have shown that investment in the waste sector can obtain a return of about 18%.
