Egyptian startup turns plastic waste into paving tiles

Dec 28, 2023

Bruna Garcia Fonseca [email protected]

São Paulo – Bearing in mind the low recycling rate of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), an Egyptian startup has developed a solution to help change this situation. The region is going through a moment of awareness-raising on issues regarding the environment, sustainability and solid waste management, but some of its countries still have the world’s lowest recycling rates or don’t even recycle at all.

So the startup TileGreen created a technology that turns plastic waste into paving tiles and has tested other products to introduce in the construction market as well. The technology is patented, and some countries have showed interest in the sustainable innovation.

Workers separating plastic garbage bags in the TileGreen’s plant

ANBA interviewed TileGreen cofounder & CTO Khaled Raafat. Together with his partner, cofounder & CEO Amr Shalan, Raafat saw an opportunity to turn plastic waste into something useful for the society, “Amr [Shalan] worked in the waste management industry, and we worked together in many companies, then we saw this opportunity, as 85% of all plastic wasted usually goes unrecycled. Most of the plastic are disposable, single-use,” said the CTO.

Over 100 million tonnes of plastic waste are discarded every year, said Raafat. “So we saw this opportunity to turn plastic waste into something useful and decided to work with long-life building materials. We wanted to offer products that lasted hundreds of years,” said the businessman.

TileGreen started its journey by manufacturing ecofriendly paving interlocking tiles out of plastic and minerals, which can substitute concrete tiles or asphalt in outdoor locations such as streets, sidewalks, and parking lots. “It’s a practical option and a good substitute for asphalt or concrete tiles, and for a similar price,” he said.

The plastic waste goes through machines before being put into the molds

This is just the beginning for TileGreen. According to Raafat, the plant based outside Cairo can accommodate the production of some 40 types of building materials, adding more sustainable options for the construction market.

The technology of tiles made from plastic waste is patented by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. TileGreen started as a startup around six years ago, and in 2021 it raised the funds to establish an industrial facility in 10th of Ramadan, some 50 km from Cairo.

“We’re already on a good path, and over ten countries have requested the patent exploration license,” said Raafat. Requesters include the Philippines, Chile, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, and some countries in Europe.

The tiles aren’t 100% plastic. They’re made of more or less 20% of plastic waste and some 80% of mineral additives, which give them the ideal density and thermos-conductivity for it to be resistant to impacts and heat, said Raafat.

“Neither concrete or asphalt melt or catches fire easily. Our product was tested and proved safe. It only starts suffering some deformation over 200 degrees Celsius, the CTO said.

The plastic waste mix is put into molds and turned into ecofriendly paving tiles for outdoor areas

The mission of Tilegreen, according to Raafat, is turning construction into a sustainable industry. The businessman said some tests have been carried out for three new building material products, and that ten other products are set to be launched over the next year.

They also aim to “exist in five countries in the next five years,” said Raafat. They include the UAE, which will host this year’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP28), and Saudi Arabia, which is going through an exponential real estate boom, with the construction of new cities such as The Line inside the Neom project, and is concerned with a sustainable ecosystem according to the country’s Vision 2030.

“The market is huge in both Egypt and the MENA region as a whole, but our production is still small compared to the demand of this market,” he said. He added that they want to license products and an industrial franchise model by 2025.

“This is our goal, as building materials are needed across the world. Of course, we still need some KPIs [key performance indicators], and we’re now working on improving our technology. All our machines were designed by us and are part of the patent,” he said.

Translated by Guilherme Miranda