Egypt

Country Data

Egypt generated an estimated 15.3 million tonnes of municipal solid waste in 2001, growing at an estimated 3.4 percent per year.  Municipal solid wastes have been inadequately managed for many years in the country.  Waste collection systems have left large areas (up to 70 percent in some cases) of towns and cities unserviced or under-serviced. The majority of collected waste dumped in facilities lacking any effective controls.  Composting, although widespread, has generally not been effectively implemented; important recycling activities are undertaken in at least some cities (particularly Cairo).  An estimated 9.7 million tonnes of waste dumped alongside watercourses or in/adjacent to communities requires removal to appropriate waste management facilities, or proper management in situ.  Hazardous wastes may be inappropriately managed with non-hazardous municipal wastes.

Egypt has adopted a National Strategy for Integrated Municipal Solid Waste Management (2000) through which to develop and implement enhanced solid waste management systems.  A central objective of this strategy is the phased privatisation of waste management services.  Central government will facilitate implementation of the strategy, and Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency will be responsible for environmental standards and procedures.  New cost recovery initiatives have been introduced to provide a revenue stream in support of privatization.  Solid waste management privatisation is operational in Alexandria and will be operational in Cairo, Giza, Aswan and Suez in 2003. The time frame over which continuing privatisation of the sector might occur is highly uncertain, however.  The privatisation process has stalled as a result of administrative and management issues, and is taking longer to complete among priority governorates than initially intended.

PSP contracts signed and operational before the end of 2003 will result in private sector solid waste management service provided to approximately 25 percent of the population of the country at an annual contract cost of LE 277 million (approximately $US 46 million), equivalent to approximately LE 72/tonne (approximately $US 12/tonne).  These costs suggest that an indicative solid waste management budget for delivery of equivalent local level waste management services within urban communities might be in the order of LE 600 - 650 million ($US 100 - 108 million).

Accordingly, it is likely that initial implementation of the National Strategy for Integrated Municipal Solid Waste Management can be achieved within the GOE preliminary estimate of LE 1000 million ($US 167 million) in annual costs.  However, declines in the value of the Egyptian Pound against international currencies, rapidly rising waste generation rates, and the need for a wider diversity of waste management facilities (particularly in support of recycling and composting activities and environmentally sound disposal of waste) in accordance with the National Waste Management Strategy are likely to introduce future cost structures whose rates of increase exceed that of overall inflation.

Although privatisation is a core component of the National Strategy, it is only one of five "policy directives" and substantive action has not been yet taken on the remaining four of these: (i) strengthened supportive capacity of central government; (ii) application of the polluter pay principle; (iii) application of the principle of attaching an economic value to wastes as being recoverable resources; and (iv) enhanced public awareness and community participation in waste management systems.  The current impact of the privatisation initiative has been to enhance the "public cleansing" function of a solid waste management system where privatisation has been introduced, but it has not addressed the need to link waste management to the wider economy or the environment that are at the heart of ISWM (see METAP Regional Solid Waste Management Project ISWM Regional Guidelines).

Until ISWM approaches are introduced, waste generation will continue to grow in an essentially uncontrolled and uncontrollable manner in Egypt.  Costs will rise.  The extent to which human health and environmental impacts will be felt will be a function of the willingness of GOE to introduce and enforce adequate environmental standards, which will themselves force costs higher.  The country will face a cycle of rising costs to address ever increasing quantities of waste and will have limited or no ability to correct the situation.

The evolution of existing waste management systems from a "public cleansing" orientation to an ISWM orientation will require investment in the four areas of the National Strategy that have not been substantively implemented to date.  This will bring multiple benefits: (i) mechanisms for reducing waste generation will be introduced, which over time can impact the cycle of more waste/more cost; (ii) economic benefits at the national and local levels associated with the increased recovery and utilisation of resources will occur; (iii) smaller waste disposal sites will last longer; and (iv) the environmental and economic liability posed by waste disposal sites will be reduced. 

Achieving the benefits of ISWM systems will require investment in waste management system planning, infrastructure and capacity building beyond what is presently being undertaken.  The extent of required investment has not been quantified.  However, regional and broader international experience suggests that while the introduction of ISWM systems requires new and significant capital expenditures, the net per tonne cost of managing solid wastes need not increase commensurately as compared to the environmentally appropriate waste disposal systems that characterise "public cleansing" types of waste management system, and in some instances can be less.

For more details please consult the attached country report [...]