How industrial players + gov’t are working to combat industrial pollution: With the world moving towards reducing its carbon footprint, local industrial players are being nudged towards increasing their energy efficiency and slashing emissions. This shift is partially coming from momentum from within private sector circles, as well as from government-led initiatives to improve industrial players’ environmental performance.

Where things currently stand: Egypt was in the top 10 list of countries with the worst air quality in 2022, coming in ninth place with an air quality index of 128, making the country’s air quality unhealthy for sensitive groups, according to data from Swiss air quality technology company IQAir. Industry is the largest user of electricity, natural gas, and coal, and is responsible for nine gigatons of CO2, or 45% of worldwide direct emissions from end-use sectors in 2021, ABB’s Business Area Manager for Egypt, North, and Central Africa Ahmed Hassan told Enterprise.

It comes at a hefty cost: Environmental degradation costs Egypt an annual EUR 2.2 bn — almost double the industrialized country average, according to data from the French Development Agency (AFD).

Enter EPAP: The Egyptian Pollution Abatement Project (EPAP) is a wide-scale initiative launched in the early 1990s by the Environment Ministry to help industries reduce energy and resource consumption and comply with environmental regulations. It provides a mix of loans and grants to industries, with financial backing from parties including the EU, AFD, the European Investment Bank (EIB), and German development bank KfW.

The EUR 145 mn project is currently in its third phase, according to the Environment Ministry’s website. The EU is contributing EUR 10 mn to the third phase, while the EIB is putting down up to EUR 74 mn. This phase of the project kicked off in 2015 and is expected to wrap up next year. “The project helps improve industrial company’s environmental performance through offering them soft loans,” head of the air quality division at the Environment Ministry’s Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) Mostafa Mourad told Enterprise.

EPAP at a glance: The project has so far provided technical support to some 31 factories in 25 industrial facilities, with total investments of EUR 131 mn, according to government documents seen by Enterprise. It has also helped out 33 SMEs with a total investment of EUR 12.8 mn. The Environment Ministry has 120 stations constantly monitoring industrial emissions across the country, as part of its efforts to cut solid particle pollution in half by 2030.

A new project to reduce emissions in the making? The Environment Ministry is currently — alongside international agencies — conducting studies to launch its environmental sanitation policy to help make industry greener, Mourad said. “We have been in talks with cement manufacturers for over a year now to push them to switch from limestone to basalt, which emits less harmful pollutants,” Mourad said, adding that the ministry has obligated all emission-intensive industries to ensure that at least 10% of their energy consumption is green.

The private sector is also trying to make a change: Swiss-Swedish power company ABB Group in 2021 launched its Energy Efficiency Movement(EEM), which aims to raise awareness and push companies to limit their carbon emissions as well as their energy consumption. The movement targets both the private and the public sectors, mainly companies operating in the industry, technology, energy, and telecom sectors. The movement expanded to Egypt in May.

EMM in Egypt: “The movement in Egypt has only recently begun, and is still in its infancy. To start seeing concrete results, we are currently trying to include the Egyptian companies in this initial round,” he said. “We can start to have a genuine impact in the long run by encouraging businesses to cut back on their energy use. This will strengthen the path toward sustainable development and ensure we are making efforts in lessening our global carbon footprint.”

Big industrial players are already pulling their weight: Ezz Steel brands itself as a “sustainable business” whose operations have a minimal impact on the planet. “We are in the first quartile in terms of lowest carbon footprint for steel producers worldwide,” a company representative told Enterprise. Elsewedy Electric has also taken significant steps to strengthen its commitment to sustainability, Elsewedy Electric Chief Sustainability Officer Manal Hassan told Enterprise. “This included conducting a comprehensive assessment of our carbon footprint and consistently tracking and disclosing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions according to recognized protocols,” she added.

The steel industry has gone green: In the last 30 years or so, the steel industry reached a no tolerance mindset to what used to be a very polluting industry, the Ezz Steel representative said. Green innovations in the steel industry have made significant advancements — every plant now has a dust collector, air pollution is monitored closely using sensors and the figures are reported to the Environment Ministry, he added.

So has the chemical industry: “[TCI Sanmar] is continuously seeking ways to enhance its practices in order to support pollution abatement. Having said this, it may be mentioned here that the company is fully complying with all rules, regulations, and standards,” a representative at chemicals producer TCI Sanmar told Enterprise. The company is also committed to advancing its technology to reduce environmental impact and optimize the use of energy and natural resources. “At TCI Sanmar, we are committed to ensuring the sustainability of our day-to-day operations and minimizing our environmental footprint on the planet. This includes implementing updated waste management and energy conservation practices.”

Going green requires a complete overhaul of operations: “If one is after the fundamental reduction of carbon emissions that would mean a total change in industrial operations — we know there is a range and try to stay on the lower part of the range, following up with our results and trying to stay on the lowest end of the carbon footprint,” the Ezz Steel representative said. In any heavy industry there are tens and tens of factors contributing to energy consumption, he added, explaining that lowering energy consumption helps with keeping costs low and preserving the environment.

Advanced tech is the gateway to going green: “We make sure we choose the most recent state of the art configuration that has been tested internationally to have a lower footprint,” the Ezz Steel representative said.

Industrial clients are also wary of their carbon footprint: Many of Ezz Steel’s clients are interested to know what measures are being applied to minimize carbon footprints. “I think industrialists, those who are industrialists at heart, realize the importance and how fundamental [going green] has become,” the representative said.

Strategies have been put in place: “In response to the call for immediate action to address the global climate crisis, Elsewedy Electric issued its 2020-2023 Sustainability Strategy. This comprehensive strategy not only includes a strong commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, but also outlines specific interim targets for 2030 and 2040 and detailed action plans to achieve those goals,” Hassan said. The company constantly monitors its emissions to air, water, and waste generated and is able to “take immediate corrective actions. We have identified all environmental risks and impacts arising from our operations and construction activities and developed environmental management plans and monitoring programs as part of our corporate ESMS, including targets and site-specific KPIs.”

Your top green economy stories for the week:

• Solar tender deadline extended: The Egyptian Electricity Holding Company has extended the bidding deadline for the tender for five north coast solar plants to 27 October.
• Japanese firms eye Egypt renewables: The General Authority of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) met with representatives from 24 Japanese companies interested in investing in renewable energy and green fuel projects.
• Banque Misr to launch green fund: Banque Misr plans to establish an ESG green index fund in 1Q 2024 based on S&P’s sustainability index.