Dr. Khaled Mohamed El Basueny possesses a PHD degree on: “Activating the role of local administration in combating the deterioration of fresh groundwater”, 2014. He pursued B.SC. Of Commerce in 1989 from Tanta University, an H. Diploma in Financial Accounting and Auditing from Tanta University from 1999 to 2001 and an H. Diploma in Managerial Sciences from Sadat Academy from 2000 to 2001. He has also pursued a Master’s degree in 2008 entitled: Evaluation of mechanisms to combat pollution in the Nile River and directions for its development.
Dr. Khaled Mohamed El Basueny was the Winner of the INTOSAI WEGA Award: “Inspiration in Environmental Auditing” in August 2022. He currently serves as the Undersecretary of the Accountability State Authority of Egypt (ASA).
The discovery of plastic in the year 1907 was a worldwide boom, and the word “Plastic” means “changing the shape without breaking” and is derived from the Greek word “Plastikos”.
As a result of substituting plastic for other materials such as glass and metals, plastic is used in preserving food, insulating facilities, using electronics, and in the infrastructure projects such as the water and sewage pipes and the electronic cables, in addition to the pharmaceutical packages, chemical industries, durable goods and the automobile industry. The Plastic’s industry has become a global industry amounting to around US.522.6 billion, and its capacity is expected to multiply by 2040.
The plastic pollution is considered one of the greatest environmental challenges of the 21st century as it causes widespread damages to ecosystems and to the human health. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in the quantity of the single-use plastic wastes worldwide by about 1.6 metric tons per day where 3.4 billion face masks/ face shields are discarded every day. The synthetic rubber constitutes about 60% of the car tires that are consumed annually worldwide, and it is estimated by more than one billion tires, 200 million of which are consumed by the United Stated of America alone.
Estimates indicate that up to 5 trillion plastic bags are consumed annually worldwide, around 10 million plastic bags per minute.
In 2019, 460 million tons of plastic were produced, and the global plastic use is expected to almost triple multiply by 2060 with 353 million tons of generated wastes, and 22 million tons leaked to the environment. The plastic industry contributed with 1.8 giga tons of GHG emissions (3.4 % of the total global emissions) and they are expected to increase by 15% in 2050, with 140 million tons of plastic accumulating in rivers and oceans.
This article aims to clarify the impact of the plastic wastes’ pollution on health, climate change, and biological diversity, as well as the magnitude of pollution of the oceans, seas and rivers. It refers to some relevant international initiatives and points out the Egyptian experience to combat the plastic wastes’ pollution the role that SAIs can perform in this field as well as highlighting the experience of SAI Egypt in this respect so as to be shared with other SAIs, in application of the INTOSAI motto; “mutual knowledge benefits all.”
The Plastic-Related SDGsGoal 12 “Responsible Consumption and Production’’ is considered the main goal concerned with tackling the plastic problem, but is linked to many Goals; e.g. (Goal 13 related to climate change) as well as the SDGs 2, 3, 8, 14, 15, 17. Despite the global pervasive pollution caused by Plastic, there is only one indicator (14b, 1, 1) within the global indicators framework which it related specifically to the density of the plastic debris.
Plastic Pollution and the Climate ChangeThe plastic production accounts to about 6% of the global oil consumption, and it is expected to reach 20% by 2050 as plastic wastes are handled by their disposal in landfills, incineration, and recycling. This leads to the production of Black Carbon whose global warming’s potential surpasses that of Carbon Dioxide by about 5,000 times and causes half the smog visible in cities such as New Delhi.
Plastic Pollution and Biodiversity- More than 800 marine and coastal species are affected by this pollution through ingestion and entanglement of plastic materials in addition to other risks.
- The plastic bags thrown in the oceans and seas have caused the death of more than 12% of the marine species, the most famous of which is the turtle.
- Around 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals are killed each year, and the plastic pollution costs about U.S.13 billion annually in terms of the damages occurring to marine ecosystems.
Rivers are the main channel for polluting oceans with Plastic where about 90% of all Plastic Wastes entering the world’s oceans came from ten rivers only, equivalent to about 11 million tons of plastic wastes flow annually into the oceans, and this amount might triple by 2040. When these wastes drift into the ocean, they release Methane and Ethylene gases into the water and air due to their exposure to sunlight.
Plastic Pollution and the Mediterranean SeaA number of 22 countries overlook the Mediterranean Sea. The plastic wastes will multiply by 4 times by the year 2050. The “coastal activities constitute 50% of the plastic thrown into the sea.” Globally, the Mediterranean Sea is one of the most plastic-polluted seas as it contains about 7% of the world's marine debris and minute Micro plastics, even though it represents only 1% of the world's water.
Plastic pollution and the Red SeaThe pollution of the Red Sea with plastic is considered a special environmental crisis because it is rich in coral reefs, “the level of the plastic waste in the Red Sea is relatively low”, as a result of the absence of dense human settlements on it which minimizes the chances of littering and polluting the sea, in addition to the absence of a permanent river current that flows into the Red Sea.
International InitiativesSome countries including France, Morocco, India, New Zealand and China have banned the use of plastic bags due to their negative impact on the environment. Rwanda and Taiwan had prohibited the plastic bags’ use in 2008 while Kenya had completely forbidden their usage in August 2017. Since 2018, the European Union has adopted the Carbon certificates as a financial instrument.
The Egyptian Experience in Combating Plastic Waste PollutionA statistic study indicated in 2015 that the consumption of plastic bags amounts to 12 billion Egyptian pounds annually. Most factories that produce synthetic fibers depend, in about 40 to 60% of their production capacity, on the plastic wastes which are recycled as a raw material. Egypt aims to reduce the annual consumption of the single-use plastic bags to the rate of 100 bags/capita by 2025 and 50 bags/capita by 2030.
The government has taken several initiatives to raise the awareness of reducing the consumption of plastic bags, including:
- Banning the single-use plastic bags and cutlery in several governorates, including the Red Sea and Alexandria, since July 2019.
- The Campaigns “Live Green”, “Very Nile”, “E-Tadweer” and “Eco Egypt” aim to remove 35 tons of plastic wastes from the River Nile besides launching the National Initiative for Smart Green Projects in August 2022.
- Launching the National Initiative for funding the smart green projects in the different governorates in August 2022.
- Launching the National Climate Change Strategy 2050.
In March 2022, the Countries’ Presidents, the Environmental Affairs’ Ministers and other representatives from 175 countries endorsed a historic resolution at the Fifth Session of the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi to end plastic pollution and conclude a legally binding international agreement by 2024 that addresses the entire life cycle of the plastic materials, including their production as well as their design and disposal.
The procedural and legislative framework in Egypt to combat plastic pollution is represented in certain laws and measures international and besides agreements, including, e.g.
- The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (the Barcelona Convention adopted in 1976 and amended in 1995).
- The Regional Convention for the Conservation of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Environment (1982).
- The Egyptian Constitution 2014, the Environmental Law No. 4 of 1994, Waste Management Law No. 202 of 2020.
- The establishment of the National Committee to reduce the use of the single-use plastic bags.
SAIs can examine the efficiency and effectiveness of the measures taken by governments through focusing on the plastic waste, the depletion of natural resources, the negative impact on the environment and the human health, the unsustainable management of this valuable product and the serious environmental, social, economic and health threats it poses. Its harmful impacts were extended to the terrestrial and marine ecosystems as well, entails demanding the adoption of the less production and less consumption concepts, the adoption of environment-friendly techniques for recycling, along with imposing the legal tools and the proper disposal of existent wastes in order to prevent pollution or leakage, in addition to, engaging many stakeholders in society including citizens, governments, NGOs, companies and manufacturers as well as increasing the awareness and improving the design and disposal processes and thus reducing the impact of plastic wastes on society.
The INTOSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA) has adopted this substantive issue in its Action Plan 2020-2022, regarding SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production - as well as the draft INTOSAI Strategic Plan 2023-2028.
The Role of SAI Egypt (ASA) in Auditing the Plastic Waste PollutionThe ASA follows up the orientation towards the circular economy and integrated waste management, including the recycling practices, and following up the implementation of strict regulations to reduce the plastic wastes pollution through:
- Requesting the enactment of a legislation that bans the usage of the harmful plastic bags, setting standardized specifications "barcode" for environment-friendly bags, providing incentives for committed factories, and orienting towards using paper and cloth bags.
- Requesting the amendment of the legislations on the Capital Market Law No. 95 of 1992 and its executive regulations to allow the issuance of various financial tools, including Carbon certificates.
- Verifying that the plastic producing companies have obtained the necessary license, the ISO certificates as well as the various professional safety certificates.
- Following up the competent authorities to dispose of plastic wastes through reusing and recycling as well as following up the establishment of closed and developed public dumps instead of open dumpsites.
- Requesting the audited entities and companies to provide the adequate funding for all the plastic production stages as well as encourage innovation.
- Requesting the other governorates to follow the model of the Red Sea Governorate’s experience regarding banning the usage of all the single-use equipment and plastic bags.
- Activating the concept of the “Green ASA”, through rationalizing the procurements and limiting the single-use plastic products, and raising the awareness of the ASA's auditors through conducting training courses in auditing the environmental affairs and the SDGs’ implementation.