LAUSR

Abstract The aim of the present study was to establish a national database of waste characteristics for Egypt to support the assessment of various waste management strategies. The study explored the potential of applying waste-to-energy (WTE) systems to alleviate the negative environmental impacts of waste disposal while providing a renewable source of energy. An extensive field study was conducted on 1200 households in the urban centers of four representative governorates, with the aim of finding the waste generation rates and composition in correlation with key socioeconomic features such as household income, family size, and electricity consumption. The per capita waste generation rates were found to range between 0.63 and 0.82 kg/day, and the waste was composed mostly of food (41–70%) followed by plastics (6–16%). The generation rates had significant negative and nonsignificant positive correlations with the family size and electricity consumption, respectively. The Egyptian governorates were sub-grouped under the four surveyed ones based on analogous local features. Accordingly, a high-level assessment suggested that a national strategic WTE plan for the urban regions in Egypt would involve incineration in five governorates and anaerobic digestion in the remaining ones. The proposed plan would lead to an estimated total energy production of 11 TWh per year, and an annual reduction in the country’s carbon footprint by approximately 7307 Gg CO 2 eq. Based on the current market conditions and waste service fees, the national WTE plan would be financially unviable; however, excluding capital investments, potential annual revenues could cover the operating cost and provide a steady profit. Charging 24 USD/ton as tipping fees for the WTE plants or increasing the electricity tariff to 0.076 USD/kWh, financial profitability of the proposed national plan would be achieved. Graphic abstract