Coca-Cola and BariQ launches the latest Plastic Waste Sorting Facility

(Cairo – December 2020)

In accordance with Egypt’s vision for 2030, and aiming at implementing the foundations of a circular economy and achieving sustainable development goals, a strategic partnership was announced today in Cairo to open the largest plastic waste sorting facility between BariQ, a subsidiary company of Raya Holding Group for Financial Investments, which was established in 2010 and is considered as the biggest plastic waste recycling company in the Middle East and Africa and the Coca-Cola International Company.

This occurred in the presence of many senior officials of the Ministries of Environment, International Cooperation, Industry, Trade and Finance, and the Food Safety Authority, in addition to representatives of international companies, namely: Unilever, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble and many leaders of international donors.

This collaboration reflects the support for Egypt’s plans and efforts in the field of waste recycling through implementing and operating the sorting facility and the commitment to apply all international standards and specifications in the field of waste recycling in order to preserve the environment and produce eco-friendly materials which shall contribute to reducing harmful emissions, maintaining natural resources and minimizing the environmental impact of plastic waste.

Medhat Khalil, Chairman of Raya Holding for Financial Investments, expressed his pleasure of the collaboration and partnership with Coca-Cola and considered it as the culmination of BariQ’s efforts to present a successful model for the circular economy in Egypt over the past ten years, stating that this partnership will enhance the trust between Coca-Cola and BariQ, which will result in an increase in the recycling rate and the use of BariQ’s products made of recycled plastic, which are suitable to use for food with complete safety, in accordance with the requirements of the Organization For the Egyptian Food Safety Authority and Standardization & Quality.

Commenting on this partnership, Mr. Ahmed Rady, General Manager of Coca-Cola Egypt – Atlantic Industries, confirmed that choosing BariQ as a key partner to achieve the goals of Coca-Cola’s initiative “World Without Waste” in Egypt came as a result of BariQ’s efforts in the pioneering waste recycling sector in the Middle East and Africa. He also called on all the operating companies in Egypt to follow Coca-Cola’s policy towards the community while supporting the Ministry of Environment’s plan to recycle waste, particularly in light of the environmental, social and economic returns that can be achieved.

Rady added: “Coca-Cola considers itself as a strategic partner in all markets and communities in which it operates, and we always work together to support all activities and initiatives that would contribute to reducing the environmental risks. This project is a new step through which we confirm our commitment to society, and it will be followed by more steps so that we can achieve all the goals of Coca-Cola’s initiative “World Without Waste” in Egypt.”

On the other hand, Engineer Usama Zaki, the Chairman and CEO of BariQ, expressed his happiness for entering into this strategic partnership, which will lead to achieving the goals of Coca-Cola in creating a world without waste. This is considered a continuation of BariQ’s efforts to promote the recycling industry in Egypt, the Middle East and Africa. Ten years ago, we succeeded in bringing the recycling industry to Egypt with the latest European technologies, which are compatible with all international requirements, aiming at producing an internationally competitive Egyptian product that can be 100% exported to the European and American markets. The impact of our partnership with Coca-Cola will be reflected in increasing the rates of collecting and recycling of plastic waste in Egypt in order to achieve the goals of Coca-Cola’s initiative “World Without Waste” to collect and recycle every bottle produced and sold by Coca-Cola in the Egyptian market, in addition to the production of new bottles of recycled materials by up to 50% by 2025, and by up to 100% by 2030, which shall achieve the goals of the circular economy and reduce the adverse environmental impacts.

Zaki added that the new sorting facility is based on the latest German technology to automatically separate the plastic waste bottles with high accuracy, which is the first time such technology is exported outside the European Union countries, noting that the facility is able to operate at a rate of up to 10 tons per hour, which is the highest production capacity efficiency in the world.