The Association for the Protection of the Environment (APE) partnered with Cairo’s informal recycling workers to strengthen the city’s community-based, circular waste management systems. Through this partnership, informal recycling workers collect, process and recycle most of the city’s waste while improving public health, livelihoods and living conditions.
Cairo generates approximately 20,000 tons of municipal waste every day, yet formal waste systems have been unable to meet the needs of a rapidly growing city for decades. Informal recycling workers historically operated without legal recognition, reliable compensation or adequate infrastructure, despite providing essential waste collection services that prevent pollution, disease and overflowing landfills.
- Partnered with Cairo’s informal recycling workers to strengthen every stage of the waste value chain — from door-to-door collection and sorting to recycling, processing and market development
- Modernized waste collection by replacing donkey carts with trucks and improving neighborhood collection systems
- Introduced composting and improved organic waste management as alternatives to pig farming, increasing recovery of organic materials and reducing environmental impacts
- Supported hundreds of local recycling businesses by providing new and improved processing technologies, technical training and market connections
- Established education, healthcare, women's livelihood and housing programs that improved living conditions across Cairo
- Advocated for policy reforms that culminated in the passing of Egypt’s 2020 Waste Management Law, formally recognizing informal recycling workers and promoting their integration into the national waste management system
- Recovers approximately 80% of Cairo’s 20,000 tons of daily municipal waste
- Dramatically reduced landfill disposal, open dumping and burning
- Created an estimated 17 jobs for every ton of waste collected, supporting thousands of livelihoods throughout the recycling value chain
- Expanded local recycling enterprises from three in 1984 to approximately 1,500 micro, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs)
- Supported more than $40 million of investments in recycling equipment and processing infrastructure
- Improved housing and public services across six neighborhoods by upgrading informal settlements
- Helped establish new recycling markets across Cairo
- Provided over 300 formal manufacturing industries with recycled feedstock
- Influenced national circular economy policies, extended producer responsibility (EPR) initiatives and informal waste sector recognition across Egypt
