Reducing Plastic Bag Consumption in Egypt: SwitchMed in Egypt - SwitchMed Programme [Factsheet]

In Egypt, the consumption of plastic bags is unrestrained at an average of 124 bags per person during 2015, equivalent to 12 billion annually. The top 5 consumers in Egypt are groceries (25 per cent), fruit and vegetables kiosks (20 per cent), stores and shops (17 per cent), supermarkets (14 per cent), and fast food and restaurant chains (6 per cent). Typically, plastic bags are given away free by supermarkets and other shops, which leads to excess use. These plastic bags are littering streets and waterways, including the Nile, the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. Identifying potential bidders and/or solutions, understanding the benefits, the “lowest-price-only” syndrome, and missing market intelligence are some of the issues that have to be addressed to switch to a more sustainable consumption of shopping bags.