Extended producer responsibility in Egypt

Egypt continues to advance its regulatory framework for sustainable waste management, including through measures imposing extended producer responsibility (EPR) obligations on manufacturers and importers of designated materials. One such measure is Prime Ministerial Decree No. 662/2025, issued on March 2, 2025 under section 17 of Waste Management Law No. 202/2020, which brings certain single‑use plastic bags within the scope of Egypt’s EPR regime.

This alert outlines obligations for producers and importers of single‑use plastic bags, the responsibilities of the Waste Management Regulatory Authority (WMRA), and key considerations for businesses operating in Egypt.

Obligations of producers and importers of single-use plastic bags

The Prime Ministerial Decree applies to single-use plastic bags produced or imported in compliance with quality standards 3050/2022, as prescribed by the Egyptian Organization for Standards and Quality. Producers and importers of these bags must comply with the following obligations:

1. Register online with the National System for Waste Information and Data Management
2. Report quarterly domestic sales data for single-use plastic bags to WMRA, and
3. Pay WMRA a safe-disposal fee of EGP37.50 (approximately USD0.80) per kilogram of single-use plastic bags sold in or imported into Egypt, due upon submission of quarterly reports.

Producers and importers must also comply with any technical specifications or restrictions on the sale, distribution, storage, and disposal of single-use plastic bags prescribed by Ministerial Decrees made under Section 27 of the Waste Management Law.

WMRA’s obligations

WMRA is a public agency under the purview of the Minister of Environment, created by Section 2 of the Waste Management Law. It is responsible for regulating, monitoring, and developing integrated waste management activities in Egypt, as well as for attracting sustainable investment to the waste management industry.

Under the Prime Ministerial Decree, WMRA must:

1. Deposit fees paid by producers and importers of single-use plastic bags into a separate fund for the responsible management of single-use plastic bags, and
2. Report annually to the Prime Minister on the administration of single-use plastic bags

What the Prime Ministerial Decree does not do

Notably, the stewardship system created by the Prime Ministerial Decree is not strictly an EPR system. Producers and importers have no end-of-life collection or material-management obligations. Their legal obligations are limited to registration, sales data reporting, and remitting fees to WMRA.

Additionally, material-management obligations under the Prime Ministerial Decree fall on WMRA, effectively creating a privately funded, publicly operated system. It does not provide for industry to establish and operate producer responsibility organizations independently from WMRA.

The Prime Ministerial Decree does not prohibit producers, importers, or retailers from passing compliance costs on to consumers.

Looking ahead

The Prime Ministerial Decree represents a step toward a more comprehensive EPR framework in Egypt, which is one of the largest economies and the largest consumer market by population size in the Middle East and North Africa. Although it does not create a strict EPR system that shifts collection and material management obligations onto producers of designated materials, the Prime Ministerial Decree may serve as a test case for potential future EPR legislation.

For more information on EPR in Egypt, please contact the authors.