Egypt: The Environment Minister, Yasmin Fouad, recently attended an agreement signing ceremony between the Environment Ministry and the Government of Japan, which provided a grant of 3.2 million dollars to support circular economy practices and to reduce the use of Egypt’s single-use plastics.
Minister Yasmin Fouad said in her remarks, “The project is the result of years of serious work to reduce the use of single-use plastic bags”.
In addition, she witnessed the document signing supporting the rotary economy practices in the value chain of single-use plastics in Egypt between the Environment Agency and the UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) as a grant of 3 million dollars.
According to the reports, the document was signed in the presence of Mr Oka Hiroshi, the Ambassador of Japan in Cairo, and Dr Ali Abu Sunna, the head of the Environmental Affairs Agency, Dr Tariq Al-Arabi, the Head of the Waste Management Organization, and Mr Ahmed Rizq, the Deputy Resident and Supervisor of the UNIDO Office in Egypt.
Furthermore, Environment Minister Dr Yasmin Fouad expressed gratitude to the Government of Japan for its continued support for environmental work in Egypt and for documenting the project supporting the rotating economy practices in the value chain of single-use plastics in Egypt by experts and technology.
During the ceremony, Yasmin Fouad stated that the project is the product of years of hard work towards reducing the consumption of single-use plastic products Use in Egypt, in cooperation with UNIDO, to support the Waste Management Regulator and Environmental Affairs Apparatus under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment.
As per the reports, “The project comes at a critical time for the world as it faces challenges such as climate change, biodiversity and combating pollution, parallel with the implementation of the national strategy to reduce the use of single-use plastic bags adopted by President Abdul Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Republic” minister added.
The authorities further talked about implementing several initiatives that started in Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh. To reduce and limit the use of single-use plastic bags, collaborate with several partners from other ministries, provinces and manufacturers.
Moreover, the project will support the Egyptian government’s efforts to reduce the amount of plastic waste leaking into the environment by demonstrating a greener alternative approach,
The minister added that providing technical assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises and working to raise awareness of existing sustainable plastic production and consumption patterns among stakeholders, producers and consumers.
On his part, the Japanese ambassador confirmed that the project is one of the executive mechanisms that seek to build on the output of the COP27 climate conference that highlighted the challenge of facing plastic pollution, confirming that the completion of the project study was the first stage of launching the project that focused on challenges.
The reports concluded that, as part of this initiative, funded by the Japanese government, UNIDO prepared a study on the plastic value chain in Egypt, in collaboration with Jaika, to explore the feasibility of introducing sustainable technological solutions such as alternatives, packaging technology and recycling technology, where the project completes this successful work and applies the findings of the study prepared.