Egypt adopted Law No. 202/2020 on waste management and established a national regulatory authority

In October 2020 Egypt adopted Law No. 202 on waste management, which regulates waste management in a single act and provides for a supervisory body, referred to as the Waste Management Regulatory Authority (WMRA). It is important for the waste-to-energy and biogas sector because it concerns licensing and the rules of access to the waste stream.

Scope of the law

According to the description in the UNEP database (FAOLEX) the law has 80 articles, divided into six parts. It covers waste management in Egypt with the exclusion of nuclear and radiological waste, which remain within the remit of Law No. 7 of 2010. The waste management authority is to prepare the national integrated waste management strategy, supervise the market and issue licences for activity in this area. The law prohibits, among other things, open burning of waste (Article 20) and the mixing of different types of waste by a licensee without permission (Article 21). Management of hazardous waste requires a special licence and the authority's consent for trade, and management of non-hazardous waste requires a licence for its integrated handling.

Link to waste-to-energy

The Egyptian government had earlier, by Prime Ministerial Decree No. 41 of 2019, adopted a fixed tariff of EGP 1.4 per kWh for electricity generated from waste, payable in Egyptian pounds for 25 years and applicable until a total of 300 MW has been contracted. According to the description by lawyers from Helmy, Hamza & Partners, the governorate in whose territory the power plant stands is to supply waste to the owner free of charge. The tariff and the licences are two complementary elements: the first gives the investor predictable revenue, the second the rules of access to the waste stream.

Later changes

Changes to the executive regulations and the discussion of the tariff in later years are described in the update note attached to this entry; above we present the legal position as of the publication date.

Significance for investors and for Poland

For investors in the waste sector three issues matter most: clear licensing rules, availability of waste (a supply guarantee) and a predictable energy price. Law 202/2020 touches the first, the tariff the third. For the European reader it is also a reminder that waste and energy regulations have to be read together: in Poland a similar function is performed by the Waste Act and the Act on Renewable Energy Sources (ustawa o OZE).