CAIRO – How to turn dross into gold is not only a matter of technicality or finance or even alchemy but of a will and a desire to make use of whatever seems worthless to some. Egypt has a major problem concerning agricultural waste that amounts to 30 million tonnes a year, which, if it were well used, would be an important source of income. For more than ten years, the months of September and October have been associated with the appearance what has become known as the ‘black cloud' over Cairo and the Delta, which pollutes the environment and causes many health problems to Egyptian, notably respiratory. One factor in this annual is allegedly the burning of rice straw, since farmers use only a small portion of it as fodder and then burn the rest on their farmland. Although Delta governorates embrace several recycling plants, their combined capacity the farmers claim is far less than the three to four million tonnes of rice straw resulting from a harvest of around eight million tonnes. According to specialised studies l8 per cent of agricultural waste in Egypt is used directly as fertiliser, 30 per cent as animal food and the remainder is either directly burnt on the fields or used for heating purposes in small villages. Technological advance, however, has given access to more profitable recycling methods to turn waste into a source of energy and organic fertilisers. Experts say rice straw can be used to make bread and other food products not to mention paper. Rice bran could also be utilised in the manufacture of medical and cosmetic products. Environmental experts are warning of an environmental disaster at a time when ecologist Hesham Sherif said that agricultural waste could be recycled into 30 million tonnes of organic fertiliser. Al-Masry Al-Youm independent newspaper quoted the Governor of Qaliubia Adel Zayed as complaining of the huge burden such waste poses to the governorate. He said that he would discuss with private sector representatives new ways for the disposal of agricultural waste especially that a large dump in Al-Khanka has already been allocated for its collection. East and Central Delta governorates, namely Qaliubia, Gharbia, Sharqia, Daqahlia, Kafr el-Sheikh and Menufia are those that most suffer from this problem. Merely filing of police reports on the part of the environment ministry departments in these governorates has not rid them of mounds of waste. Abu Bakr el-Shahawi, the director of the Central Administration of the Environment Ministry believes that the private sector has to step in to establish recycling facilities. He pointed out that, although Daqahlia is the governorate with the greatest number of plants that convert agricultural wastes into organic fertilisers, they are not capable of dealing with Daqahlia's entire waste. The farmers say they are left with no other option than to burn rice straw, cotton and maize stalks, since the transfer of waste to collection sites cost them a great deal. Meanwhile, Hesham Sherif says he is waiting for governmental approval of a feasibility study of his project that would produce 30 million tonnes of organic fertilisers. He added that the Ministry of Local Government is considering the possibility of contracting him to help him carry out his project that embraces all governorates. Sherif's project relies on classifying governorates into sectors specifying the kind of waste to be recycled and the amount of organic fertiliser to be produced.
