WasteAid, an international organisation that shares waste management and recycling skills in lower- and middle-income countries, has entered into an 18-month funded partnership with Dow, a materials science company, to advance plastic waste recovery and recycling in Egypt
The project will see the organisations work with the public, private and community-level actors in Aswan to support scalable and sustainable solutions for the collection and valorisation of post-consumer polyethylene (PE), which is used in a wide range of packaging applications, such as food packaging and household products.
WasteAid will explore hotspots of plastic pollution, and then support local organisations and innovators to increase PE recovery and recycling.
Ceris Turner-Bailes, WasteAid CEO, remarked, “A circular economy depends upon all parts of the value chain working in unison, from manufacturers and brands, to waste collectors and recyclers. We are delighted to be launching this partnership with Dow to uncover local solutions in Aswan to the recovery and recycling of plastic, with a particular focus on supporting informal waste collectors and recycling innovators who play a critical role in keeping materials in the loop.”
Sami Mainich, president North Africa and Levant at Dow, said, “We have a duty to help address the plastics waste challenge in Egypt and the wider African continent. To do this, we must advance circular solutions to fully close the loop on plastics waste. We can’t do this alone however, so collaborations across the value chain are critical to driving and scaling innovative technology and initiatives that benefit local communities. We are confident that this important partnership with WasteAid will help us to achieve our vision of a circular economy for plastics in Egypt and potentially, further afield.”
In addition to finding new uses for post-consumer plastic, the project will have a strong socio-economic focus, to maximise the benefits of a circular economy among grassroots groups in Aswan. The partnership seeks to demonstrate the importance of locally-crafted solutions in the drive for recycling, sustainability and a circular economy.
