EGYPT'S cleaner production and efforts to limit industrial pollution have been praised by the Donor Assistance Group (DAG). DAG includes the director of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the regional director of the UN Development Programme, and the deputy director of the US Agency for International Development. It also includes representatives from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), UNICEF, the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), and the British and Spanish embassies in Cairo. "The group visited development projects in Alexandria and Beheira governorates, including an industrial chemical enterprise in Borg Al-Arab in Alexandria," Ahmed Kamal, director of the Environmental Compliance Office (ECO) at the Federation of Egyptian Industries, said. "With the support of ECO, the enterprise has applied cleaner production technologies." Adel Taha, ECO chemical sector coordinator, inspected the new methods being used at the factory in Borg Al-Arab, which include turning mazot into natural gas and reusing sewage water. The factory also rations the consumption of energy used in the production process, which has obvious environmental and economic benefits, and which has improved the working atmosphere, reducing heat loss and consumption of water. The LE5.2 million factory is making LE1.8 million in profits annually and the payback period is in three years.
