Raya Holding cooperates with the Ministry of Environment in Raising Awareness of E-waste Collection Through “E-Tadweer” App

(Cairo – April 2021)

As part of its efforts to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Egypt’ Vision 2030 by promoting environmental awareness and recycling, Raya Holding for Financial Investments has participated through Raya Trade in the initiative launched by the Ministry of Environment (MOE) to manage e-waste.

The initiative is implemented by the Medical and Electronic Waste Management Unit of MOE, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

In light of the initiative, Raya participates in increasing individuals and corporates’ awareness about the importance of recycling e-waste. Raya avails collections points for e-waste through Raya stores selected branches in Cairo and Giza. These branches serve thousands of customers who can download E-Tadweer app and use it to upload their old electronics and e-devices, then to be dropped-off at the nearest branch to receive a 5% off discount coupon for Rayashop website.

Her Excellency Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Egyptian Minister of Environment, said that as a strong supporter of these initiatives, they require the involvement of youth and the participation of the private sector. She stressed on the importance of raising public awareness about addressing environmental issues. She added that this is a national initiative aiming to collect and recycle e-waste reflecting the Egyptian political leadership’s awareness and commitment about addressing environmental issues

Commenting on the initiative, Medhat Khalil, the chairman of Raya Holding for Financial Investments expressed his delight with the participation of Raya Holding and its subsidiary Raya Trade in this initiative. He stressed that Raya’s efforts represent our societal responsibility to guarantee a safe disposal of electronic waste.

“This initiative embodies the crucial role that the private sector can play, in cooperation with the government, to achieve the SDGs, given the political leadership’s interest in addressing the environmental issues as an integral part of development, in order to limit ecosystem degradation and conserve our natural resources for future generations.”, he said.

Raya’s efforts are also part of its social responsibility as a leading company in the Egyptian Market, since it aims at yielding tangible results regarding the safe disposal of electronic wastes, minimizing the harm caused by e-waste, and job creation, said Medhat Khalil.

“We are pleased to participate in such initiative with the Ministry of Environment in this regard, to raise stakeholder and public awareness on disposing and recycling e-waste properly.”, he continued.

The private sector is the largest source of electronic waste, followed by individuals and households, and then the governmental sector, said the director of the Medical and Electronic Waste Project at the Environment Ministry, Dr. Tarek al-Araby.

He also noted that large institutions need to adopt and enforce appropriate policies and regulations to dispose of e-waste and according to the laws, large entities can only dispose of their waste through formal recycling factories for E-Waste.

In the past, collecting e-waste from homes was a monumental challenge that hindered e-waste disposal, as the informal sector used to collect waste, which was not managed properly. In addition, the e-waste hazardous part were typically disposed of as municipal wastes, ending up in landfills or remaining at homes.

Therefore, this project is aiming to create a sustainable mechanism to collect e-waste from individuals and provide them with an economic incentive. Our primary goal is to prevent e-waste from ending up in the informal sector, that does not follow any environmental standards in dealing with such waste, leading to serious negative impacts on the health and environment.”, Al-Araby said.