Circular Economy in Egypt: How Companies Can Turn Waste Rules into Value

A circular economy keeps materials in use for as long as possible: products are designed to last, be repaired and be recycled, and one company's waste becomes another's input. In Egypt, this is no longer only an environmental idea. It is increasingly written into law, and it can cut costs.

The legal framework

• Waste Management Law No. 202 of 2020 sets the national framework for managing waste and created the Waste Management Regulatory Authority (WMRA), a public agency under the Minister of Environment that regulates and monitors waste management and seeks sustainable investment in the sector.
• Green Label: the law established a Green Label, administered by the WMRA with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, to encourage recyclable inputs and less industrial waste.
• Plastic bags: Prime Ministerial Decree No. 662 of 2025, issued on 2 March 2025, requires producers and importers of single-use plastic bags to register online, report sales to the WMRA every quarter and pay a safe-disposal fee of EGP 37.50 per kilogram sold or imported.

Lawyers have noted that the plastic-bag decree is a first step rather than a full extended producer responsibility (EPR) system, and that it may be a test case for wider rules. See DLA Piper's February 2026 analysis. Companies that sell packaged goods should watch this space.

Five circular moves that pay back

1. Audit your waste streams. You cannot reduce what you do not measure. Weigh and classify what leaves your sites for a month; most companies find a few streams make up most of the volume and cost.
2. Sell, don't dump, clean streams. Separated cardboard, plastics, metals and organic waste often have buyers. Mixed waste has a disposal cost.
3. Redesign packaging. Less material, single-material packs and recycled content reduce costs now and exposure to future producer fees.
4. Close loops with partners. Industrial symbiosis, where one plant's by-product becomes another's raw material, works best in industrial zones and clusters.
5. Report it. Waste and resource data are part of the ESG disclosures required of listed companies and larger financial institutions, and buyers increasingly ask for them.

Make it a business model, not a project

The question that matters to boards is whether circularity makes money. The answer depends on volumes, prices for recovered materials and the cost of disposal. These are numbers a finance team can model like any other investment.

That is exactly the focus of the session Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency: How Can the Circular Economy Become a Profitability Model for Companies? at the 8th Circular and Green Economy Forum on 1 November 2026 in Cairo. Since 2019, the Circular and Green Economy Forum has brought together policymakers, companies and investors around these questions. Register for the 8th edition.