The Egypt Distinguished Center for Solid Waste Management at the Faculty of Engineering, at Ain Shams University, won first place nationwide (non-profit projects category) in the National Initiative for Smart Green Projects, which is held under the patronage of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

Prof. Sherine Al-Ajroudi, Director of the Center, received the award from Prime Minister Dr. Mustafa Madbouly in a ceremony attended by the Ministers of Planning and Economic Development, Environment, Local Development, Electricity, and the Climate Pioneer, the Chairman of the Initiative’s Jury Committee, the Governors, and the Initiative’s General Coordinator, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Egypt, and a large number of officials.

It is worth noting that the project was presented to a technical committee that included development partners from national and international organizations, and then these results were presented to the National Arbitration Committee headed by Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, the climate pioneer for the Egyptian presidency.

The most prominent evaluation criteria for projects were the Ministry of Environment’s requirements for (green component, smart technological component, economic feasibility, bankability, scalability and replication, sustainable impact, empowerment, and equal opportunities).

Prof. Sherine Al-Agroudi explained that the Egypt Center of Excellence for Solid Waste Management at the Faculty of Engineering, at Ain Shams University, headed by Prof. Omar Al-Husseini, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, is one of the leading environmental centers in Egypt, as it was established through a project funded by the Science, Technology and Innovation Financing Authority (STIFA) of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and with similar funding from the Faculty of Engineering, at Ain Shams University.

The center's primary goal is to address the environmental challenges facing Egypt in the areas of solid waste management, circular economy, and environmental strategies through research, encouraging innovation, engineering consultations, laboratory measurements, and capacity building.

The Center also participates in many national and international research projects that focus on combining theoretical solutions with practical applications in the areas of design of all municipal solid waste facilities (transfer stations, sanitary landfills, waste-to-energy conversion), construction and demolition waste management, industrial waste, extended producer liability, establishing guidelines and policies and supervising implementation work.

She pointed out that the center is interested in education and capacity building as an initial step to help develop waste management, and that knowledge and practical training on appropriate waste management measures is a prerequisite for effectively addressing the challenge of waste management in Egypt.

She explained that the center is equipped with all the necessary laboratory equipment to cover the complete characterization of all types of measurements of water samples, wastewater, and solid waste of all kinds, pointing out that the center has obtained the international accreditation certificate (ISO/IEC 17025:2017).