Sunday marks Earth Day, a date when there's events of support for environmental protection around the world. And this year's campaign is focusing on ending plastic pollution. Plastic pollution is being recognized as a major issue for the world's oceans, but the problem doesn't stop there. Rapid urbanisation in many parts of the world means more plastic waste. Authorities in the Egyptian capital Cairo are trying to mitigate that -- by raising awareness about the importance of recycling. Adel EL Mahrouky has the story.

For a country surrounded by two seas and greatly depends one the river Nile for water, plastic pollution in Egypt is not an issue taken lightly. Tons of plastic wastes are dumped in the streets and waters and not all of it find its way to recycling.

MOHAMED SHEHAB ABDEL WAHAB ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AGENCY, EGYPT "To disintegrate plastic takes so many years, and we produce too much, that puts a lot of pressure on the marine life, creatures like sea turtles are dying because of the toxins in plastic. That affects the diversity of creatures in marine life and the entire plan as well. It's why we are raising awareness because it's our life that is in danger."

Because of the long lasting environmental hazards plastic toxins cause, the Egyptian government has launched massive campaigns nation wide. The purpose is to decrease usage of plastic bags in stores, collect plastic waste off Egyptian shores and from the Nile.

KHALED FAHMY EGYPTIAN MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT "Currently we're joining the ministry of irrigation in a national project to protect the Nile River's water. That is a massive project that will in turn help in protecting agriculture land from pollution. So the entire government is committed to that project which will preserve our natural resources."

Egypt has a huge plastic recycling infrastructure, bigger than the volume of plastic solid waste properly collected. Last year Egyptians have imported more than Mn 500$ worth of plastic waste to feed domestic needs.

MOHAMED SHEHAB ABDEL WAHAB ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AGENCY, EGYPT "Recycling is extremely important, but if it is not handled properly it could be dangerous. We have numerous programs to create awareness telling the people how an they recognize the different kinds of plastic, so that each can be recycled properly, because the usage plastic which in not properly recycled could be extremely dangerous on people's health."

ADEL EL MAHROUKY CAIRO "While Egypt is moving steadily towards increasing its recycling power, the country still pays a lot of money to segregate trash. It's why the government is creating a media campaign nation wide to create awareness among Egyptians about the necessity of recycling so that citizens would start segregating their wastes at home instead of leaving it in the streets, to be abused by trash looters. AMA CGTN CA."