The Egyptian company’s CEO, Essam Hashem, spoke about Spearink’s business, plans for the future and challenges.
Spearink’s Essam Hashem
Wamda, a “platform of programmes and networks that aims to accelerate entrepreneurship ecosystems across MENA”, interviewed Hashem about Spearink’s “e-waste ambitions”, business and plans for the future, and the challenges it faces. Hashem comments that he started Spearink as he wanted to do something about the cartridges going to landfill, because “even if there is no recycling option, at least they can [be] reuse[d]”.
Businesses are attracted to Spearink because of its “awareness campaigns and waste collection campaigns”, including the Green Sharm and Green Aswan initiatives for e-waste collection, for which Spearink works alongside the Egyptian government and Ministry of Environment. Stating that “the real treasure, which is more than any income, is the enjoyment of turning trash into something useful”, he added that Spearink refills around 4,000 cartridges per month.
With this figure in mind, Hashem states that over a year Spearink saves around 15 tonnes of plastic, 2.5 tonnes in aluminium and toner powder, five tonnes of rubber and metals, and 4.5 tonnes of polyurethane and metals. The company’s refill machines have developed to the point that its newest has a touchscreen, while each machine features a “cartridge circuit tester”.
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In terms of challenges, he refers to “the last four years” as the main challenge, with the unrest after the Egyptian revolution. Spearink has two branches in Egypt and one in Syria, so the unrest in the latter nation has also affected the company, with Hashem noting that “the revolutions there stopped me from being able to export from those centres”. In turn, he welcomed “political change” in Egypt, but now thinks the revolution “has been against me”.
In terms of security, the company’s trained franchisers in Alexandria had to stop, and although it began “to do training at clients’ sites it wasn’t enough”. People have been “too afraid to visit Egypt or deal with companies from Egypt, and for final products th[ere] was no market for exports too”. Focusing on the local market “was very hard”, because of instalment payments, which made things “difficult for us financially”, but deals with Saudi Arabia and Jordan “gradually” began helping.
For the future, Hashem stated that Spearink’s brand will continue to grow in the Middle East through franchises, while a production line for “precious material recovery from e-waste” will also be developed, and its Dr. WEEE franchise will be launched. In turn, he said that having targeted Africa and the MENA region, Spearink is looking to “target the Indian and Pakistani markets as well”.