PROJECTS
Empowering Egypt's first "green" e-waste recycling company
RecycloBekia started when a group of young engineers from Tanta University decided to submit an idea to a business plan competition for start-up ideas in 2011. After their idea won 1st place in the competition, they decided to invest their award/seed funds in starting the company. The company’s name plays on the Egyptian Arabic term ruba bekia, which translates as “old stuff.”
Headquartered in Cairo, RecycloBekia collects e-waste — ranging from old computers to cellphones — from nearly 50 companies and safely sorts and recycles the material. Since launching in 2011, RecycloBekia has recycled 1500 tons of e-waste from around Egypt. RecycloBekia serves more than 45 national and multinational companies, by collecting and safely recycling their old computers, phones, and other e-waste. As the first safe, “green” e-waste recycling company in Egypt, RecycloBekia partners with refineries in Germany and the US to ensure hazardous materials are dealt with in an environmentally friendly way. By preventing the mishandling and combustion of e-waste RecycloBekia provides jobs and enables a positive impact on human health, and the environment. Ploutus partnered with the company to establish operational processes within the start-up. Our work included:
Advising management-level staff of the budding start-up company on ways to improve the efficiency of RecycloBekia’s electronic waste recycling plant and distribution operations across Egypt, leading to reduced internal costs, and improved communication and management systems.
Providing guidance to the leadership team on the company’s expansion plan into the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, and contributed to their successful expansion into Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.