Snippets on the Consultation Meeting on the MoE’s Proposed E-Waste EPR System
WMRA and CEDARE co-organized a consultative meeting on WMRA’s proposed Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) system of e-waste. The meeting aimed to introduce the new system to relevant stakeholders including the Ministry of Industry, Customs Authority, producers and importers of electronics, recyclers, as well as the Federation of Egyptian Industries, in presence of Mr. Yasser Abdallah, WMRA’s Acting Executive Director, Dr. Hossam Allam, CEDARE’s SGP Regional Director, Ms. Ghada Moghny, MBA, Senior Programme Coordinator at CEDARE, and Eng. Tawfic El Kheshen, Solid Waste Management Consultant, among others.
The main components of the new system were outlined as well as the next steps until its launch in January 2026. Expected outcomes are to increase the collection and recycling of electronic waste, minimize mis-managed e-waste, safely manage hazardous components, enhance recycling standards, create added value, resource efficiency, reduce the use of raw materials, and ultimately establish a national industry and create green jobs as well as integrate the informal sector.
The consultation resulted in identifying producers’ needs to align with the new system, which will go through several phases untill it is fully operational. It was also meant to take stakeholders’ feedback and recommendations into the State’s consideration. This comes in line with the Egypt’s action in light of Law No. 202 of 2020 on Waste Management, which mandates the application of EPR Systems in Article 17.
E-waste includes mobile phones, desktop and laptop computers, printers, copiers, screens, televisions, routers, modems, and switches. Egypt sees e-waste as a priority due to several reasons; the huge amounts of electronic waste generated with annual production of 500,000 tons. Less than 5% of which is recycled. Additionally, electronics contribute to 70% of the hazardous waste ending up in landfills. This is in addition to the health risks involved.
CEDARE collaborets in this, through the Sustainable Recycling Industries (SRI) Project, with the Swiss government and other partners from Switzerland, the وزارة الاتصالات وتكنولوجيا المعلومات-مصر, and the وزارة البيئة المصرية – Ministry of Environment since 2016.
EPR is an international system to regulate the collection and recycling of products at the end of their lifecycle, thus attaining the SDGs. Not only is producers’ responsibility limited to manufacturing or importing, but also it has to cover the entire product lifecycle, including post-consumption, ranging from collection, take-back system, segregation, processing, and recycling. EPR also requires changing a product’s pricing mechanism to cover the cost of safe disposal at the end of its lifecycle ensuring sustainability, social equity, and job creation.