Ecocem (Lafarge) and the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) have agreed to jointly work to pilot new solutions addressing both Egypt’s waste management problems and the emerging energy crisis.
On Thursday 28 March 2013, Ecocem – a subsidiary company of Lafarge Group – and GIZ in partnership with Qalyubeya Governorate signed a cooperation agreement. This partnership will address some of the waste management problems in Qalyubeya Governorate while at the same time finding alternative solutions to the growing energy crisis facing industries in Egypt while creating a new value chain for the local communities.
Under the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) concept, private sector companies and public sector development cooperation work hand in hand, achieving a win-win-situation and creating new possibilities for positive development impulses.
GIZ Programme Coordinator Dr. Günther Wehenpohl said: “This cooperation is a great example of public and private organisations joining efforts to work together on finding solutions to Egypt’s environmental problems, while at the same time enhancing economic opportunities for poor urban populations.”
This cooperation agreement builds on the existing partnership between GIZ and Qalyubeya to rehabilitate an old recycling facility. Within this context a new processing line to produce Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) from waste materials – which can be used as an alternative source of fuel in cement factories – will be built. This facility will create more than 50 job opportunities while also benefiting informal waste collectors and recyclers who will work on separating recyclable material such as plastics and metals.
Lafarge is the world largest producer of building materials and is a market leader in Egypt. Lafarge Cement Egypt has been the pioneer in providing effective and environmentally reliable thermal treatment solution in Egypt with a great success and proven track record. Ecocem Industrial Ecology Egypt is Lafarge’s Industrial Ecology unit in Egypt responsible for developing, sourcing and pre-treating solutions to facilitate the recovery of wastes to alternative fuels materials by Lafarge Cement plant that co-processes them with full compliance with international environmental standards and sustains its undisputed high quality cement products. Ecocem will source the RDF produced at the facility while also providing technical support for the operation of the RDF processing line. Part of the revenues generated from the sale of RDF will be reinvested by Qalyubeya Governorate to enhance the waste collection and transportation systems in the cities of Khosoos and Khanka.
GIZ is supporting Qalyubeya Governorate since 2010 through the Participatory Development Programme in Urban Areas (PDP) to develop integrated community-based waste management systems in two cities, Khosoos and Khanka, within the governorate.
This agreement also entails the cooperation between Ecocem-Lafarge and GIZ in conducting research about the utilization of RDF, initiating stakeholder consultations as well as dissemination of technical knowledge. This will primarily be done in cooperation with the National Solid Waste Management Programme (NSWMP). The NSWMP, which is also supported by the German government, aims to support the Egyptian government in developing the necessary institutional, legal and organizational structures for waste management at the national level as well as in four other governorates. In the opinion of Joachim Stretz, GIZ Programme Coordinator of the NSWMP, “This joint approach can deliver necessary experience and knowledge to tackle the next steps in developing an improved and sustainable waste management system suitable for Egypt”.
GIZ is a government-owned enterprise which supports the German government in achieving its objectives in field of international development cooperation.