Egypt & Switzerland Sign USD 1.7 Million E-Waste Recycling Grant

Egypt and Switzerland have signed a grant agreement worth CHF 1.4 million (USD 1.7 million) to establish a national system for the sustainable management of electronic waste, supporting the reuse and recycling of electrical and electronic equipment while expanding green industries.

The agreement was signed by Minister of Local Development and Environment Manal Awad and Swiss Ambassador to Egypt Andreas Baum in the presence of Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and officials from both countries.

According to the Ministry of Environment, the Circular Electronics Initiative will establish an integrated framework for the reuse and recycling of electronic waste in line with Egypt Vision 2030 and the country's sustainable development goals.

The project places particular emphasis on recycling refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment, which contain substances that can contribute to ozone depletion and climate change if not disposed of through environmentally sound systems.

The initiative builds on the Sustainable Recycling Industries programme, which ran from 2016 to 2025, and will focus on strengthening legislation and governance, establishing compliance and monitoring mechanisms, developing professional collection and recycling systems, and improving data collection while introducing the Extended Producer Responsibility principle.

The project will be financed by Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs through the CHF 1.4 million grant. Egypt's Waste Management Regulatory Authority will lead implementation in coordination with the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation, while the World Resources Forum Association will oversee project activities.

Scheduled to run until June 30th, 2029, the initiative aims to increase electronic waste recycling and reuse rates, encourage investment in green industries, improve resource efficiency and reduce environmental impacts.