The Nag Hammadi solid waste recycling plant was inaugurated on 9 June 2023, in the wake of World Environment Day on 5 June. The facility, located in Upper Egypt in the governorate of Qena, has a capacity of 400 tonnes per day.
The new plant recycles waste into organic fertiliser for agriculture, and produces RDF (Refuse Derived Fuels) alternative fuel, 120 tonnes a day to supply cement works, among others. The new recycling plant is located in the Nag Hammadi waste management centre. It is supplied by the Abu Tisht transit station, which was inaugurated just after the Nag Hammadi recycling plant came on stream.
Reducing solid waste pollution
“The establishment of an intermediate station at Abu Tisht is part of the procedures for closing random landfill sites, because its location was previously a random landfill site, and in cooperation with the governorate of Qena, this landfill site was closed and part of the land was cut to establish the station, which now serves the areas of Abu Chit, Farshart and West Nagaa Hammadi”, explains Yasmine Fouad, the Egyptian Minister for the Environment.
According to her, this approach is also helping to reduce the cost of transporting waste to recycling sites, as well as pollution. The new Abu Tisht transit station covers an area of 4,000 m2 and is expected to handle 200 tonnes of solid waste per day.
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These facilities have been built as part of the Egyptian Ministry of the Environment’s National Solid Waste Management Programme (NSWMP). The initiative was launched in 2012 with the aim of developing and improving the efficiency of the municipal solid waste management system in the governorates of Kafr El Sheikh, Gharbia, Assiut and Qena.
The Egyptian government aims to reduce solid and sanitary waste pollution by 50% by 2030. Cairo is also opting for the gradual adoption of the circular economy. Egypt currently produces an average of 95 million tonnes of waste every year.
Inès Magoum