Plastic trash in the Nile: an increasing environmental risk

1. The Nile's Importance and the Pressures on the Environment Right Now.

A) Significance in History and Culture

Egyptian society has done well along the Nile for a very long time. In the past, the river has given the water needed for farming, cities, and trade, which helped civilizations grow. Egyptians thought the water that kept them alive had magical powers because they saw it as holy and saw the flooding that happened every so often as a gift that made farming possible and helped the agricultural economy.

Over 95% of the people who live in Egypt today live within a few kilometers of the Nile Valley and Delta. The fact that it is so close shows how important the river is to the economy. So, the pollution from the Nile has terrible effects on almost every part of the state.

B) The start of changes in modern pollution

The amount of plastic used has grown rapidly over the past couple of years. Egypt's population has grown to more than 100 million, which means more spending, changes in industry, more people living in cities, and a lot of single-use plastic. Most of it ends up floating in the Nile and its feeders because there aren't any trash management systems that can collect and recycle it.

A report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2021 says that about 1.7 million tons of plastic enter Africa's rivers and seas every year. The Nile is one of the most polluted rivers in this category ([IUCN, 2021)]

2. Where the plastic trash in the Nile comes from

To find an answer, it's important to figure out who the problem affects. The sources of the plastic trash that ends up in the Nile in Egypt can be broken down into five separate groups.

A) Waste in Cities and Poor Collection Systems

Over 20 million tons of municipal solid waste are made by Egyptian towns every year, and the country is proud of that number. Cairo is just one of them. Putting a number on it, the World Bank says in a study that plastic makes up at least 12% of trash. its branches.

The open streams of trash that wait along the sides of rivers and canals make things worse for everyone, especially when it rains and floods and the trash gets washed into the water.

B) Discharges from Businesses and Industry

Along the banks of the Nile, countries in the Middle East build factories that make things that are used downstream. These places are in charge of getting rid of different kinds of plastic trash, like microplastics, polymer pellets, and package Plastic trash, such as microplastics, polymer pellets, and package plastics, often eludes adherence to established regulations. omission of treatment steps. filtration systems, which means that treatment steps are skipped.

D) Use of Plastic in Agriculture

In the farming business, plastic sheets were used for things like mulching, covering greenhouses, and even for irrigation systems. The trash can break down into tiny pieces called microplastics that can get into the Nile if it is not thrown away properly. Also If farmers do not properly dispose of their trash, it can end up in the Nile. barrels and plastic bags.

E) tourism and recreation

One more business that contributes a lot to pollution is tourism, which uses the Nile for river cruises and other fun activities. On the one hand, tourist boats make a huge amount of trash. A lot of trash is dumped into the river without thinking about what tourist boats unthinkingly dump tons of trash into the river. There are especially high environmental risks in places like Luxor and Aswan that are popular with tourists.

F) Unofficial Settlements and Riverbank Communities

In underdeveloped, informal settlements that don't have any basic services, people constantly throw trash on the banks of the river or even into the river because the socioeconomic level of the settlement doesn't allow for waste management. People in cities and rural areas who live along rivers don't have easy access to public trash systems, so the River Nile is often used as an open garbage dump.

3. The Effects of Plastic Pollution on the Nile Stream

A) Threats to Biodiversity in Water

When it comes to the fish, frogs, birds, and crustaceans that live in the Nile, plastic trash is very dangerous. In the water, many species get hurt or killed when they get caught in plastic trash, especially fishing nets and rings made of plastic. They often have trouble controlling how much they eat and end up eating things like plastic that float in the water because they think it is food. Because of this, they can die or become severely disabled because their innards have been punctured.

Marine Pollution Bulletin released research in 2020 that some fish caught in the Nile have microplastics in their intestines. This suggests that there is a food chain and that bio-dependents have replaced food chain dependents [Mohamed et al., 2020]. Researchers [Mohamed et al., 2020] have replaced food chain dependents.

B) Alteration of Habitat and Ecosystem Function

ad plastic trash blocks light from reaching the water's top, which is needed for photosynthesis in algae and fish, which is a key part of life. Besides that, it changes the structure of marshes and riverbeds in a way that hurts plants by making it hard for water, sediment, silt, and even soil to move freely.

Microplastics also help invasive microorganisms spread, which brings pathogens that aren't native to the Nile's environment. These biological pollutants could hurt native species and throw off the balance of nature.

4. Effects on Human Health and the Economy

A)Pollution of Drinking Water

About 85% of Egypt's drinking water comes from the Nile River. More and more microplastics containing chemicals used to preserve plastics, like BPA and phthalates, are being found in cleaned water. This makes people worry about their lon People are concerned about long-term exposure to plastics such as Both tap water and bottled water contain microplastics. land bottled water, though.

B)Hunger and Public Health
Aquatic animals that live in the Nile are an important source of energy for many Egyptians. Microplastic contaminants and the chemicals that are linked to them pose big risks to consumers, such as cancer, endocrine change, and weakened immune systems.

People who live near rivers and use them to bathe, cook, and wash are directly exposed to dirty water. This kind of exposure raises the chance of getting skin infections, stomach illnesses, and problems with reproduction.

C) Costs to the economy
As a result of overfishing, pollution, and plastic trash that damages fishing nets and lowers fish populations, the fishing industry loses money. Lack of cleanliness also hurts places with dirty water, like rivers and ecotourism areas. Fewer people visit these places, which Moreover, the World Bank notes that this further boosts the economy. Moreover, the World According to the World Bank, Egypt allocates 5% of its annual GDP to water waste and environmental conservation.f its annual GDP to water waste and environmental conservation.
GDP annually on water waste and environmental damage (World Bank, 2021).

5. Policies, government, and international efforts

A) National Strategies for Managing Waste
Egypt is working to fix their problem with how to handle trash. The government started the National Solid Waste Management Program (NSWMP) in 2019 with help from the EU and the German Development Bank (KfW). The plan includes money for recycling projects, waste treatment centers, and building up local skills. projects and waste treatment.

to do projects and waste treatment. ent.ng amount of trash that comes from Egypt's cities and tourist spots. The new program also wants to make warning systems for containers that are too full and come up with new, more advanced ways to handle trash.
The government wants to make the system better by keeping track of how solid trash moves between regions and governorates, making it easier for people to get to, and changing routes that were already set up.

A new law called the Solid Waste Management Law was passed in 2021. It sets rules for how trash is collected, thrown away, and recycled across the whole country. Critics say that the main problems are a lack of money, delays caused by bureaucracy, and not enough application.

B)plastic bags and other local actions

To protect environments in both the sea and rivers, South Sinai and the Red Sea governorates have banned single-use plastics like bags and cutlery. These rules have not been made official on a national level, and they are not always being followed.

Cairo has also started some test projects to get businesses and people to use biodegradable packaging. But general adoption is still low because it's expensive and hard to find. Cost and access make it hard for many people to adopt.

C) Working together and making agreements with other countries

Under the "*UN Environment Assembly (UNEA)*" decision on plastic pollution, the country has also promised to cut down on trash in the ocean. Egypt has signed a number of international deals to fight plastic pollution. These include the Basel Convention on Hazardous Wastes and the UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan.

6. Crowdsourcing and local innovation

A) The Very Nile Initiative

Since its start in 2018, VeryNile has been run by young people. They work with fishermen, schools, and local companies to pick up trash, encourage recycling, and raise awareness about the problem of plastic pollution. As of 2023, they had taken more than 100 tons of trash out of the VeryNile river .

B) Recycling Programs in the Community

People in Cairo's Manshiyat Naser area, which is often called "Garbage City," have been collecting trash informally for many decades. The Zabbaleen recycle a lot more than the average person around the world—more than 80% of the trash they They recycle more than 80% of the trash they pick up, which is likely to improve the overall recycling results. malwaste systems.

C) Eco-Business Startups

Several new companies in Egypt are working on other environmentally friendly ideas. One company, Bekia, gives people groceries or services in return for recycling materials that people bring in. Another project, called Up One Company, Bekia, recycles materials that people bring in. Another project, called Up-fuse, employs low-income women to use plastic bags to create stylish accessories.

7. Pollution Control

A) Studies of Microplastics in Egypt

Microplastics have been found in the water and silt of the Nile by researchers at Ain Shams University and Cairo University in the past few years. Long-term monitoring of the environment is not possible because there is not enough study and money available.

B) The Need for Policy Based on Data

There isn't enough accurate information about how much plastic gets into the Nile. Plastic pollution officials could find pollution hotspots and see how well different interventions work by funding remote sensing, community oversight, and AI detection tools.

8. Answers and paths for the future

A) Making laws and enforcement stronger

Egypt's problems with illegal dumping need more than just strong industrial regulation. Penalties need to be put in place, the country's use of single-use plastics needs to be addressed, and laws that are already in place should be strictly enforced. It is very important to have trained environmental police help with enforcing critical

B) Adding to the infrastructure for recycling

For sorting, recycling, and composting, facilities need to be expanded, especially outside of big towns, so trash doesn't end up in the Nile. This can be done by allowing public-private partnerships to happen and giving the private sector reasons to get involved.

C) Educating the public and changing people's behavior

The way people think about using plastic can be changed by public efforts and school lessons that focus on the environment. Giving people a say in how trash is handled gives people in the area a sense of power.

D) Put money into biodegradable alternatives

Supporting and funding the production of alternatives to single-use plastics in the country where they are made will help the environment and lower the need for imports.

The huge amount of plastic trash in the Nile is not just a natural problem; it's a national problem that impacts the economy, public health, and future generations. Egypt is clearly trying to solve the problem, but it needs a bigger plan that includes the local community, foreign groups, government agencies, and civil society.

To protect the Nile, the whole system needs to change. For example, waste management systems need to be redesigned, rules need to be strictly followed, and eco-friendly consumption needs to be encouraged. That's the only way for Egypt to protect its most important natural resource and its health in the future.