Page 49 - Plastics News November 2022

IN THE NEWS

it to support Egypt’s circular econo- collecting and recycling them, as well
my. as limiting their volatility and stability
“Despite the intensity of the plas- in the sea and ocean waters, which is
tics crisis, we are now more capable a threat to the ecosystem,” Minister
of tackling it. Environmentalists have of Environment Yasmine Fouad an-
been eliminating plastic through nu- nounced.
merous efforts; for instance, scientists In June 2019, Red Sea Governor
in Britain have developed recyclable Ahmed Abdallah took the initiative of
plastic that can be reused up to 40 banning plastic bags in the governo-
the earth centuries of plastic waste. times. As a result, single-use plastic rate to help to preserve marine life,
With the aim of prompting the trans- products, which have been accumu- especially endangered sea mammals
formation of waste into resources lating for years without decomposing, for which plastic residue has proved
that can contribute to sustainable de- can now be reused, saving the earth deadly through ingestion, suffocation,
velopment, the Ministry of Environ- from 50 years of plastics production.” or poisoning.
ment released Waste Management Similarly, Hussein Mohamed, the di- The governor’s decision prohibited
Law 202 and its executive regulations rector of an Egyptian plastics recy- the use of plastic bags in restaurants,
in October 2020. cling factory said that “we collect and supermarkets, and pharmacies, as
Many initiatives have since responded buy plastic waste, including single-use well as licensed bag manufacturing
to the law’s environmental provisions, plastic products, from manufacturers. factories within the Red Sea governo-
as it encourages safe recycling. They Then we recycle it into plastic prod- rate. It encouraged designing alterna-
have also responded to the circular ucts to spare the environment from tive, environmentally friendly plastic
economy, which focuses on rationalis- plastic pollution.” bags with the slogan “No to the Use
ing the use of natural resources and Eager to turn plastic into long-lasting of Plastic Bags” to raise awareness of
curbing the production of waste. products, Mohamed created a way the environmental dangers caused by
One of the organisations working to to make external floors and rooftop the use of plastic on the land and ma-
clean Egypt’s beaches of plastic waste tiles of plastic. “It is not enough to just rine ecosystem.
is Banlastic Egypt. “We are deter- recycle plastic products; we must be Following in his footsteps, the Envi-
mined to address the plastic waste willing to incorporate them into long- ronmental Affairs Agency in Alexan-
crisis through three axes, starting with lasting products to avoid harming the dria held its first coordination meeting
campaigns to clean the beaches. We environment by repeating the recy- last April for its own “No to Plastic
will also spread awareness of the per- cling process,” he said. Bags” initiative.
ils of plastic waste and work to end It took Hussein a year of trials to reach The city banned plastic bags on its
the production of single-use plastic,” the ideal composition of the tiles, in beaches and replaced them with
Ahmed Yassin, Banlastic’s co-founder, which he combined sand and plastic safe alternatives. A timeline was an-
explained. to reduce intermolecular interactions nounced to end plastic bag distribu-
“The world is suffering from plas- and harmful plastic emissions. tion. The governorate also supported
tic waste in the oceans that has now MOVES AHEAD: The Waste Manage- the production of safe, fully biode-
reached the size of the US state of ment Law contains regulations to limit gradable plastic products.
Texas. Here in Egypt we have enough single-use plastic products, including Furthermore, up to 36 awareness and
plastic waste that if reused could meet banning the selling, trading, and dis- cleaning campaigns were held on Al-
all the needs of the plastics industry. tributing of single-use plastic bags that exandria and Matrouh beaches over
Yet, only a small percentage of it is re- do not fulfil the requirements of Gen- the last two years. One of the cam-
cycled,” Yassin said. eral Authority for Standardisation and paigns has even entered the Guinness
“Since our beginning in 2018, we have Quality. Book of Records as the longest beach-
amassed tons of waste and channelled “Making plastic bags with a specific cleaning campaign stretching for eight
15 tons of it to companies that recycle thickness has facilitated the process of km.

November 2022 PLASTICS NEWS 49