How Bekia is boosting waste recycling in Egypt
In 2023, Egypt’s National Solid Waste Management Program reported that 100 million tons of waste are produced annually in the country. While up to 85% of waste is collected in urban areas (compared to only 35% in rural areas), between 80 to 88% of municipal waste is taken to open dumpsites. As one of the region’s top polluters, Egypt produces approximately five million metric tons of plastic waste per year. This rate is unlikely to slow as the plastics industry grows; a 2024 report by the Egyptian Cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center stated that the country’s plastic production industry has grown to produce two million tons annually, contributing at least 12% to the country’s GDP. The plastics market is expected to increase at an annual rate of 10% annually.
Despite these metrics, Egypt is advancing regional recycling efforts, processing about 1.5 million tons of plastic annually according to national statistics. The public sector drives some of these efforts, including by implementing a ban on single-use plastic products in tourist sites, and setting waste management strategies. In 2017, the government launched a “sell your garbage” scheme across Cairo, allowing people to deposit recyclables in return for money. The private sector also plays a notable role in driving forward a culture of environmental awareness and recycling. These include corporate social responsibility initiatives by large multilaterals, such as Nestlé Egypt’s Dorna initiative to collect and recycle plastic waste, and dedicated startups such as Bekia.
In 2017, Bekia launched with the goal of “[educating] citizens and society about the importance of the environment and also [spreading] the culture of separation [of waste] from the source.” The service collects plastic, paper, and electronic waste, in addition to cooking oils and minerals, and delivers this waste to recycling companies and factories. Both households and companies can book the service either through phone, an online platform, or a mobile app. Bekia assigns each recyclable a value in points, based on market prices (for example, at the time of writing, plastics were valued at 190 points per kilogram). Once users have selected the items that they wish to dispose of and Bekia has picked up the waste, users can convert the points that they have earned to cash in return for recycling their waste.
Bekia is a trusted recycling partner to a number of entities, collecting waste from a range of private sector companies such as hotels as well as from embassies. Bekia also engages in awareness raising and teaching, including by delivering awareness sessions in schools. Bekia’s efforts are emblematic of the importance of recycling and the necessary cooperation between the private and public sectors underpinning successful change.
