As part of its UN Sustainable Development Goals, Egypt has had its eyes set on two main issues: poverty and local development of products. For the latter, it is working with sustainable tech company Papyrus Australia (ASX: PPY) to establish a national industry in Egypt. It will retrieve, process and repurpose banana plantation waste using the Papyrus technology and IP, as part of the Egyptian “national waste retrieval and repurposing program”. 

The Egyptian Government, via the National Authority for Military Production, aka the Ministry, has signed a Cooperation Protocol and Roadmap with Papyrus. To that effect, in July, Egyptian Government officials from the Ministry and delegates from the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) visited the Papyrus plant in Sohag to inspect the technology and progress of upgrades.

Over the last three months, Papyrus has worked with the Ministry to develop phase 1 of the roadmap. This involved completing the feasibility analysis for the proposed Banana Fibre Moulding Plant which the Ministry will own and operate. Secondly, it included the development of an equipment supply and installation agreement for the Banana Fibre Moulding Equipment that Papyrus will supply. Finally, it involved the development of a product offtake agreement for the purchase of all products produced by the Ministry at its plant. The products will be sold through Papyrus’s distribution network. 

As a result of its work, Papyrus has been welcomed to participate in the Green Zone of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 27) which will be held in Egypt in November 2022. The Company will use this opportunity to network and develop ‘global coalition for impact’ partners to start rolling out its technology across banana growing regions globally.

In fact, many global banana growers have shown interest in Papyrus’s commercialisation plans. The regions targeted have been Australia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, South America, Uganda and Kenya. Organisations in these countries are all about chemical-free processing of by-waste without the use of water and low energy consumption. That’s not all. Papyrus has developed a Grower Supply Agreement for them, which ensures that the growers get economic benefits out of the deal when they supply up to 50,000 metric tons of banana plantation waste per annum.

Another agreement is the Moulding Manufacturer Virgin Banana Supply Agreement, which will provide the manufacturer with a secure supply of virgin banana fibre pulp to be used as feedstock in the manufacturer’s fibre moulding line to produce food packaging products. 

To put things in perspective, the Company informed that each 50,000 metric ton feedstock Papyrus plant can generate over 40,000 metric tons of liquid organic fertiliser and 5,000 metric tons of virgin banana fibre pulp, which can then be converted to biodegradable food packaging products and other products.

To make sure this process is as smooth as possible, the Company upgraded its tech in Sohag. It completed the installation and commissioning of the primary fibre processing equipment, achieving the targeted production throughput rate of 6 tonnes per hour during commissioning. And now, it has started installing equipment for liquid filtration, processing and storage to manage the increased volume of fertiliser produced.

Papyrus has funding support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which helped bring on an independent consultant to develop a five-year business plan for the Sohag plant. To add to this, the Company recently appointed Pascal Gouel as its Executive Director of International Business. Gouel has experience working in Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, thus assisting Papyrus navigate new land effectively.