LEGISLATION WATCH- A new state agency will be in charge of Egypt’s waste management challenges after President Abdel Fattah El Sisi signed into law a bill that would regulate the industry, Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad said in a statement. The new legislation, approved by the House of Representative in August, grants the authority regulatory oversight over the waste management sector and puts it in charge of creating a national strategy to improve waste disposal and recycling. The bill also includes investment incentives as well as other measures to encourage garbage collectors, small companies, private contractors, and recycling centers to join the formal economy.

Plugging the legislative gap could help market the sector: Private players in the waste management industry have been calling for government incentives to make the industry viable for outside investment, as an absence of a nationwide collection infrastructure and a market that is no longer conducive to the byproducts of recycling have been hindering investments for decades.

We took a deep dive into the problems facing the sector earlier this year: Tap/click here for more information.

IN OTHER NEWS from the industry- The Military Production Ministry signed a cooperation protocol with Egypt’s Green Tech and Bahrain’s Oak Holdings to establish a company to build and operate waste-to-energy plants, according to a ministry statement.