UNIDO, Japan support Egypt to promote circular economy

NOKE Masaki, Ambassador of Japan to Egypt, and Bassel El Khatib, Director and UNIDO Representative of the Regional Hub in Egypt signed on Tuesday an Exchange of Notes as a joint commitment to promote circular economy practices on Egypt’s single-use plastics value chain in order to reduce the plastic waste leaking into the environment.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment and Nevine Gamea, Minister of Trade and Industry, as well as a number of senior governmental officials.

Egypt’s plastic industry has made significant contributions to the country’s economic development and the growth in various key sectors, including packaging, healthcare, the consumer durables and the automotive industries, among others.

However, plastic, especially single-use plastic products like bags and packaging, is not properly disposed of when no longer needed and is causing a range of problems including a negative impact on tourism, contributing to flash floods due to clogged sewer systems, and blocking agricultural land drainage systems.

The project will support government efforts to reduce the amount of plastic waste leaking into the environment by demonstrating alternative greener approaches through technical assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and working to raise awareness of existing sustainable plastic production and consumption patterns among stakeholders, producers, and consumers.

This multi-level approach is expected to support the development of policies, regulations, and economic tools that will facilitate the adoption of greener processes and sourcing and business models within the single-use plastic value chain.

At the Japan Presidency for G20 2019, having prioritized the global marine litter challenge and aiming for an implementation framework for concerted action, “G20 Osaka Blue Ocean Vision” was shared. It is an initiative aiming to reduce additional pollution by marine plastic litter to zero by 2050. To support it, Japan launched the “MARINE Initiative” to advance effective actions to combat marine plastic litter at a global scale.

Under this initiative, funded by Japan, UNIDO has been conducting a plastic value chain study in Egypt, in collaboration with JICA, to seek the possibility of introducing sustainable technological options such as alternative materials, packaging technology and recycling technology.

The project will contribute to UNIDO’s Programme for Country Partnership (PCP) for Egypt, launched in February 2020, which aims at achieving inclusive and sustainable industrial development. The PCP is formulated around six components, namely: Industrial Policy and Governance, Investment Promotion, Green Industry, Smart Cities & Sustainable Industrial Parks, Value Chains and Mainstreaming Industry 4.0.