Dow and WasteAid partner to fight Egyptian plastic pollution

16 Dec 2021 --- Dow is partnering with NGO WasteAid to advance plastic waste recovery and recycling in Aswan, Egypt. The 18-month collaboration will see the duo work to prevent polyethylene (PE) trash from entering the Mediterranean sea.

The funded project will also promote social and economic development in Aswan – one of Egypt’s historical cities on the River Nile. 

PackagingInsights speaks with representatives from Dow and WasteAid about the initiative and the importance of tackling endemic plastic pollution in the country. 

Mapping out pollution 
Ceris Turner-Bailes, WasteAid CEO, explains that the project’s first stage will be to map the area’s plastic pollution hotspots. 

“Wherever waste is uncollected, it often finds its way to gutters and drainage channels and is washed into natural waterways. Rivers can therefore end up as litter sinks, with waste accumulating on riverbanks, sinking to the riverbed, or floating downstream to other areas and eventually reaching the coast,” she says. 

The River Nile flows through Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, the Mediterranean is polluted by an estimated 730 metric tons of plastic waste every day, with plastics accounting for between 95-100% of total floating trash and over 50% of seabed litter.

According to a 2019 report by the WWF, Egypt produces 5.4 million metric tons of plastic annually and is the largest plastic polluter in the Arab world. 

The COVID-19 pandemic is also proliferating single-use plastic in Egypt. Plastic pollution is flooding the River Nile.

This includes “masks, gloves, hand sanitizer bottles, test kits, takeout containers, delivery packaging and other items central to a new, hyper-hygienic way of life,” flags Ahmed Yassin, environmental activist and founder of Banlastic Egypt, a social enterprise that tackles plastic pollution and works to ban single-use plastic by developing alternative products.

“WasteAid will analyze the types and quantities of plastic at pollution hotspots in Aswan and share this information with local actors in the plastics recycling value chain, so that it can be used to inform decisions by local authorities, NGOs and businesses to tackle the problem,” underscores Turner-Bailes. 

Innovation competition 
Besides identifying pollution hotspots throughout the area, Dow will run a competition for local businesses and stakeholders to find and fund impactful solutions.  

Adwoa Coleman, Dow’s Africa sustainability and advocacy manager, packaging and specialty plastics, says the competition will “uncover local, inclusive solutions to PE recovery and valorization. The winning ideas will be nurtured and given support to develop financial sustainability with strong links into existing value chains and systems.” 

“This concept is based around the key principles of engaging with stakeholders and building strong partnerships; developing market-driven solutions and financial sustainability; and maximizing socio-economic benefits and shared value,” she comments. 

Data collected by WasteAid will reveal to winning innovators the availability of material for collection and recycling and will be used to prioritize focal points for the innovation challenge.

“From there, Dow will utilize its technical expertise to enable recycling and end-use for the materials and bring value chain partners to the table to support and help to close the loop on materials,” adds Turner-Bailes. 

Aiding local enterprise 
A key target of the project is supporting grassroots groups, small and medium enterprises and industry in developing solutions that work in the local context of Aswan, states Coleman. The COVID-19 pandemic is aggravating plastic litter in Egypt.

“Dow and WasteAid know that, with waste collection, one size does not fit all. That is why we are keen to discover and nurture local innovators and entrepreneurs with inclusive approaches to waste collection and the communities of people who are on the frontline of pollution prevention.”

Ceris notes there are already very committed individuals and groups in Aswan and elsewhere in Egypt “who have ideas, pilot projects, or proven solutions that provide fair recompense to people who collect waste materials from households, businesses and the environment.” 

“It is these solutions that our partnership is keen to support, to help strengthen their operations, and to fortify local markets and close the loop on plastics. The pilots will be used to showcase new ways of doing things and to inspire other communities, regions and nations to pursue an inclusive circular plastics economy.”

Dow in Africa 
The WasteAid partnership joins Dow’s larger project, “REFLEX,” which tackles flexible packaging recycling throughout Africa. 

Earlier this year, Dow and Mr. Green Africa expanded their partnership to tackle plastic waste in Kenya and advance a circular economy for flexible plastics across sub-Saharan Africa. 

The program aims to collect 167 MT of flexible plastics by September 2021, determine the exact composition of flexible single-use plastics, experiment with a variety of processing and conversion techniques, including chemical recycling, and create a local market for flexibles.

By Natalie Schwertheim