Egypt calls for integrating Africa waste 50 Initiative into Global Methane Alliance

CAIRO - 15 September 2022: Egypt participated in the Global Methane Alliance and urged integrating the Africa waste 50 Initiative into the alliance, said Egyptian Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad on Thursday during her participation in the 18th session of the African Ministers of Environment Conference (AMCEN) in the Senegalese capital, Dakar.

The Africa waste 50 Initiative aims at raising the recycling rate of African waste to 50 percent by 2050 by uniting local, regional and global efforts and experiences, and creating an unprecedented collaborative effort in Africa. It will be launched officially during the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference COP27 due to convene in Sharm El-Sheikh city on November 6-18.

"Egypt pays great attention to the role the gas and petroleum sector plays in facing climate change impacts," said Fouad, adding that irrational waste management contributes to the production of 20 percent of the volume of its emissions.

Fouad said that the African continent has the opportunity to contribute to addressing the global methane issue.

"About 250 million tons of waste is generated from Africa annually, and by the year 2050, the amount of waste is expected to quadruple," said Fouad previously in a statement in July.

She continued that only about 10 percent of the waste generated from Africa is recycled.