Cairo: Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad held a meeting on Monday with representatives of Jordan’s Harmony Investments Company (HINCO) to review a proposed digital application for waste collection and management, as per a Cabinet statement. Fouad noted that Egypt already operates a national electronic system for managing waste-related data and services.

According to State Information Service Egypt, the platform is managed by the Waste Management Regulatory Authority, which issues licenses and permits for activities involving both general and hazardous waste. The system collects, stores, and analyzes data on waste management across the country, supporting operations such as collection, transport, treatment, and recycling.

During the meeting, the Jordanian group presented its app, which enables customers to book waste collection services, while service providers can assign vehicles based on waste type and category. The platform uses big data to help recycling firms plan storage and expansion strategies and includes a dashboard to monitor excess waste quantities and performance indicators. It also allows government entities to track licensed collection points in real time.

Fouad highlighted the scale of Egypt’s waste problem, with daily waste generation reaching 60,000 tons, or 25 million tons annually. She stressed the government’s efforts to build recycling infrastructure and contract private firms to operate the system. In eastern Cairo, for example, nine districts are covered by a private operator using 24-hour monitoring of waste collection and processing.

The minister requested coordination with the New Urban Communities Authority to explore the app’s potential, adding that private sector companies could also use the system to inform their investment plans in high-density areas.