In recognition of the importance of cleaner production in Egypt, and its potential impacts on environmental quality, a National Cleaner Production Strategy and Action Plan has been developed as a result of continuous efforts over three years.This strategy has been prepared in a participatory approach with the formulation of an inter-ministerial committee. The Strategy is a step towards the modernisation of industrial enterprises while fulfilling the objectives of sustainable development.

CP Strategy

Ms Hanan El Hadary, RAC/CP National Focal Point for Egypt, presenting the CP Strategy at the seminar to launch the National CP Strategy

 

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From 4 to 14 July, a summer course named Environmental Protection - Let's Save the World was organised in Maribor (Slovenia) by the local BEST group there together with the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the University of Maribor. BEST is the Board of European Students of Technology, an organisation that encourages mobility of students, by organising courses within specific areas of technology, engineering competitions and several types of events.

The students

The course was addressed to students with technological background studying in universities members of BEST. From among 120 applications received, only 22 students from France, Serbia and Montenegro, Italy, Spain, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, Poland, Sweden, Belgium and Norway were selected by the Maribor BEST group to take part in the course. The students, most of them in their last years of study, had different backgrounds, such as industrial engineering, chemistry, chemical engineering, environmental engineering, civil engineering and electrical engineering.

The course

The course focused on several issues of environmental management related to industrial activities. It consisted of theoretical lessons, laboratory exercises, as well asand visits to several various companies and waste management installationsfacilities, with expert lecturers depending on the topic presented, both from the academia as well asand from industry. Pollution prevention, environmental management systems and quantitative assessments of sustainability in industries were some of the topics addressed within the field of cleaner production point of view.

A specific lecture on pollution prevention in process industries was given by Mr Janez Petek (Steng-National Cleaner Production Centre in Slovenia), who showed how energy consumption could be reduced and stressed the importance of consuming less energy when eliminating costs in a company. Other lectures also emphasised how to reduce an excessive consumption of raw materials in industrial activities.

The students worked with a support document specially prepared for the course, issued by the University. It included training material and presentations on the different lectures, and it is foreseen anticipated that it will also be available in electronic format. At the end of the course, the students went through an examination process that consisted of developing a specific subject tackled during the course and presenting it to the rest of students and lecturers.

Click here to access the schedule of the course.

Impressions

Among the impressions from the participants, the excellent organisation and the quality of the course were outlined. Both considering the topics addressed, but especially, regarding the expertise of the lecturers in each specific subject they were presenting, something that was highly valued by the students.

Roberto and Elena, students of Industrial and Forestry Engineering in Spain, appreciate as one of the main values of the course the possibility ofopportunity to learning how the companies and installations facilities visited operate from the inside. After spending 10 days in Maribor, one of the points Roberto highlights is becoming aware that “If there werewe recycled more recycling, we would avoid the suchhuge unnecessary consumption of raw materials” that we are doing, he says.

Information provided by the University of Maribor (Ms Zorka Novak Pintaric) and Maribor BEST group (Mr Silvo Plesnik). For more details about of the course, visit the web site http://the-world.isfun.net/ and contact Maribor BEST group at:

Organizacijska enota BEST
Gosposvetska cesta 83
2000 Maribor
Slovenia

e-mail: best.maribor@soum.si

Tel.: +386 2 2342 131

 

 

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The Egyptian Pollution Abatement Project (EPAP) has had a major impact on establishing and developing self-monitoring systems in Egypt through the preparation of self-monitoring manuals and training on these manuals.Some companies have been assisted in preparing and implementing self-monitoring schemes in order to follow up the benefits of the implemented pollution abatement projects.

The self-monitoring manuals prepared by EPAP presented at the training event for industry	Self-monitoring manual for the Textile Industry

The Arab League has also requested a modified version of these manuals from EPAP in order to publicise them in all Arab countries.EPAP has contributed to increased awareness among industrial enterprises on the importance of self-monitoring as far as legislative aspects and economic benefits are concerned. Targeted training has covered different aspects of pollution abatement.Self-monitoring has been pivotal in raising awareness on pollution abatement and environmental management issues.This has resulted in increased awareness on the importance of environmental management development in industrial enterprises.It has also led to increasing the number of ISO 14001 certified industrial companies in Egypt (almost 100 companies so far).The sustainability of such activities is accomplished through continuous cooperation with the WorkersUniversity, national and regional Universities and the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) and its chambers.

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The Regional Activity Centre for Cleaner Production (RAC/CP) would like to inform about of the latest official nominations of RAC/CP National Focal Points.

Mr Ahmet Rifat Ilhan, Expert Assistant at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (Directorate General Directorate of Environmental Management, Department of Marine and Coastal Management), has been nominated as National Focal Point for Turkey.

Mr Jakub Koniecki, at the Directorate G for Directorate G for Sustainable Development and Integration(Unit G.2 Environment and Industry) within theDG DG Environment, has been nominated as Focal Point for the European Community.

RAC/CP would like to welcome and congratulate the new members of our network, that who will doubtless continue the task of their predecessors in view of encouraging and promoting the adoption of pollution prevention opportunities in the industries of the Mediterranean basin.

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The Egyptian Pollution Abatement Project (EPAP) has helped to strengthen the enforcement of law 4/94 through the documentation of the inspection procedures and the preparation of general and specific sector inspection guidelines.This is a major impact of EPAP, as no official Egyptian guidelines existed for inspection previously.Furthermore, EPAP has succeeded in producing a version of the inspection and self-monitoring manuals for Arab countries in general, and publicising them throughout the Arab League.