Waste Management Law No.202 of 2020.

This Law consisting of 80 articles divided in VI Sections aims at regulating the organization of waste management in Egypt, excluding if related to nuclear and radiological activities (regulated by Law No.7 of 2010). Main goals of the Law are (i) develop an integrated management of municipal, industrial, agricultural, demolition and construction waste as well as their safe disposal; (ii) reduce waste generation; (iii) promote reuse; (iv) work to ensure the recycling, treatment and final disposal of waste; and (v) manage waste in a way that reduces damage to public health and the environment.
A Waste Management Authority is established at art.3 with the following tasks (i) regulating, tracking, auditing, evaluating and developing everything related to Integrated Waste Management activities; (ii) attracting investements in the field of Integrated Waste Management activities to ensure sustainable development; (iii) following up the implementation of the plans required to regulate waste management in cooperation with governmental institutions, municipal governments, the private sector, NGOs and international organizations; and (iv) issuing the licenses needed to undertake waste management activities. Its main planning and organizational actions are (i) preparing the national strategy for integrated waste management; (ii) establishing and managing the national system for managing waste information and data; (iii) determine the geographical scope of the service areas of the integrated municipal waste management and the type of services required; (iv) ensuring the availability of financial resources with the administrative authority to cover the contracted services; (v) control over the activities of integrated waste management, and prepare key performance indicators to monitor, follow up and evaluate the work; (vi) preparing and reviewing proposals to develop and update legislation, laws, regulations, standards and technical rules that regulate the method of integrated waste management; (vii) providing technical consulting services, support, and recommendations to the competent administrative authorities as well as to the actors in the waste management system; (viii) encouraging investment opportunities by setting incentive prices for compost outputs, excreta and alternative fuels; (ix) encouraging research, applied studies, experimental projects and initiatives that contribute to improving and developing performance in waste management. Articles 6-14 deal with the organizational structure of the Waste Management Authority.
The Law expressly prohibits (i) open burning of waste (art.20); (ii) mix without approval any type of waste with each other by the licensee to practice any of the activities of integrated waste management (art.21); (iii) throw, sort, or treat municipal waste except in the places designated for this (art.38); (iv) dump agricultural waste into waterways or disposed of in places other than those designated for this (art.45); (v) use empty packages of hazardous materials or use products resulting from their recycling except in accordance with the requirements specified by the Executive Regulations of this Law (art.58); (vi) export hazardous materials or waste to outside Egypt without approval (art.59); (vii) dump hazardous materials or waste into the regional sea, continental shelf, exclusive economic zone, or high seas of Egypt (art.64)
In order to protect the environment, the following measures are provided (1) single-use plastic bags: the Law establishes that (i) their manufacture, import or export shall be in accordance with the technical controls, requirements and specifications issued by a decision issued by the Minister of Trade and Industry, including their ban in case of components with inputs or materials that seriously harm the environment; (ii) their sale, circulation, storage, free distribution, or disposal may take place only in accordance with the controls, conditions and technical specifications determined by the executive regulations of this Law; (iii) it will be issued a system of financial and economic incentives and tax and customs exemptions to encourage the import, production and manufacture of safe, environmentally friendly alternatives for single-use plastic bags (art.27); (2) it is established a sanitation fund in each governorate or new urban communities apparatus for the collection services of municipal waste (art.35); (3) as for the industrial waste, the Waste Management Authority, in cooperation with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, establishes a "green label" system (a certificate attesting products manufactured in a way that limits the generation of waste or helps to recycle them after consumption, and a mark is placed on the products to introduce the consumer to environmentally friendly products) to motivate manufacturers to increase the percentage of recyclable inputs and reduce the generation of industrial waste (art.52).
The Law classifies waste as (a) hazardous or (b) non-hazardous. The requirements for the management of each are as follows (a): (i) obtaining a special license for the integrated management of hazardous waste and substances; (ii) obtaining an approval from the Waste Management Authority for its circulation; (iii) maintaining a register of such waste and the methods of disposal; and (iv) sterilizing and disinfecting the place where the facility producing such waste was established in case it was moved or its activities suspended; (b): (i) obtaining a license for the integrated management of non-hazardous waste; and (ii) taking all precautions required to avoid causing any harm to the environment.