• Mission: Project Development for the National Solid Waste Management Programme (NSWMP IV) in Egypt
• Client: GIZ Egypt
• Implementation period: 05/2025–02/2026

On behalf of GIZ, IPROconsult Morocco assessed the development of a fourth phase of the National Solid Waste Management Programme (NSWMP IV) and prepared a project proposal for the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Egypt faces the challenge of further modernising its waste management system while reducing environmental and climate-related pressures. Increasing waste volumes, limited recycling rates and insufficient treatment capacities affect the environment and public health and cause significant methane emissions, particularly from organic waste. At the same time, the sector offers considerable potential for resource conservation, employment and innovative business models.

The proposed NSWMP IV builds on the reform process to date and focuses on three closely interconnected areas:

• Policy and regulation: Supporting Egyptian partners in further developing strategic and regulatory frameworks for a climate-friendly circular economy, including Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
• Private sector and circular economy: Supporting selected, economically viable MSMEs in developing their business models, improving their investment readiness and gaining access to investors and external sources of finance. The gradual integration of informal sector actors into formal value chains will also be promoted.
• Local waste management: Strengthening Solid Waste Management Units (SWMUs) and local NGOs in the four partner governorates of Qena, Kafr El Sheikh, Gharbia and Assiut to enable more professional and sustainably financed waste management services.

A well-functioning circular economy contributes simultaneously to climate protection, resource conservation and environmental protection. Improved waste collection and treatment, recycling and reuse, as well as the reduction of illegal dumping and open burning, can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions – particularly methane – and limit the release of pollutants into soil and water.

In developing the project, IPROconsult draws on many years of experience in environmental and climate policy, sustainable resource management, circular economy and institutional development. The objective of the proposed follow-up module is to work with Egyptian partners to develop, implement and sustainably institutionalise viable and context-specific solutions.