Egypt is one of the countries most affected by plastic pollution in the Mediterraneanbasin and is expected to become the largest consumer of plastics in Africa, with theplastics market projected to grow by 10% annually over the next decade. Today, the country consumes approximately 5 million tons of plastic every year, with single-useplastics accounting for nearly 40% of domestic consumption. A significant share of this waste leaks into the Mediterranean and Red Seas, threatening marine ecosystems, coastal economies, and public health.
This project aims to transform tourism practices by developing a “plastic-freetourism operations” toolkit. Piloted in the Red Sea region, the initiative will testpractical solutions that are directly replicable across other Mediterranean coastal destinations, particularly in high-intensity day-tourism contexts.
“Through this initiative, we aim to significantly reduce plastic leakage generated by marine tourism activities around the Red Sea islands offshore Hurghada by tackling pollution directly at its source. Working closelywith tourism operators, protected area authorities and local communities, the initiative promotes practical refill and reuse solutions to replace single-use plastics, while also supporting clean-up actions inecologically sensitive beaches and shallow reef systems. Beyond isolated clean-up campaigns, the project seeks to establish a long-term, systems-based approach combining operational reform, behavior change and traceable waste management.
Tourism is a strategic sector for intervention because daily excursion activities to the islands generate largevolumes of disposable bottles, food packaging and other short-life plastics that frequently escape into the marine environment. By engaging operators directly, the project transforms key sources of pollution into active partners in marine protection. A dedicated operational toolbox will provide practical guidance, including standard procedures for plastic reduction, waste-return protocols, staff training materials, monitoring templates and hotspot mapping methodologies to strengthen environmental management and enforcement.
The initiative is also designed as a scalable model for plastic-free tourism that can be replicated acrossEgypt’s Red Sea and Mediterranean coastal destinations. Its low-cost, practical and easily transferableapproach offers coastal authorities and tourism businesses a concrete framework to reduce marine litterwhile strengthening the sustainability and environmental reputation of tourism destinations.” Ali Abdo,Sustainability Advisor for EWBF.
