Contacts:
Cairo: Eman Wahby + 20 2 574 1670 ewahby@worldbank.org Washington : Roger Morier +1 (202) 473-5675 rmorier@worldbank.org Cairo, July 1, 2008- The World Bank signed its first greenhouse gas emission reductions purchase agreement in Egypt for a municipal solid waste composting project. The Cairo Southern Zone Composting Project will avoid the generation of greenhouse gases caused by landfill, such as methane, which has 21 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. Under the agreement, project developer Egyptian Company for Solid Waste Utilization (ECARU) will sell 325,480 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gas emission reductions to the Carbon Fund for Europe, which is managed by the World Bank. ECARU, which is involved in a number of similar composting projects in Egypt, Libya and Malaysia, manages a composting and sorting facility on the outskirts of Cairo. The facility will feature waste sorting for recovery of recyclables and aerobic composting of organic waste, reducing the amount of methane and other greenhouses gases caused by landfill. The facility is expected to receive about 1100 tons of daily municipal waste, which would otherwise go to a landfill. "The ECARU project is the first large-scale composting project that will use municipal solid waste in which the Bank has entered into an emission reductions purchase agreement and is a prototype of what could be done in other countries,” said Lasse Ringius, Senior Environmental Specialist and Operations Team Leader for CDM Operations in the World Bank’s carbon finance operations. "There are about 280 cities in developing countries with a population of one million or more. The residents of these and other large cities discard significant quantities of waste with a high percentage of organics that can be composted. Organic wastes will emit methane if discarded in a landfill. The potential for composting projects like this one in Cairo is enormous." The project is expected to start in late 2008. Generated compost for sale to agricultural and horticultural buyers will follow within 90 days of the start of operations. "As an organic waste recycling project, the Cairo Southern Zone Composting Project will provide societal, economical and environmental benefits and result in a positive impact on global climate,” said Dr. Hisham Sherif, President of ECARU. "With its approval in Egypt and with the emission reductions purchase agreement signed, the project is now on its way to being registered as a Clean Development Mechanism project." Under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) industrialized countries can purchase greenhouse gas emission reductions from developing countries to help meet their obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. Landfill gas is the fourth largest contributor to non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions. Composting of organic waste rather than disposal in a landfill can make an important contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by avoiding methane generation. ### For more information, please visit: http://www.carbonfinance.org ANNEX 1: The Kyoto Protocol and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) The Kyoto Protocol provides an opportunity for the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and at the same time help developing countries and economies in transition invest in climate friendly technologies and infrastructure. The Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI) provide an element of flexibility for industrialized countries to meet their obligations under the Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an average 5.2 percent below their 1990 levels by 2012. In so doing, the Protocol provides an incentive for those seeking lower cost emission reductions to leverage the flow of private capital and clean technology from North to South. ANNEX 2: Carbon Finance Carbon finance is the general term applied to financing that seeks to purchase greenhouse gas emission reductions (“carbon” for short) to offset emissions in the OECD. Commitments of carbon finance for the purchase of carbon have grown rapidly since the first carbon purchases began less than 10 years ago. Volumes are expected to continue to grow as countries that have already ratified the Kyoto Protocol work to meet their commitments, and as national and regional markets for emission reductions are put into place. ANNEX 3 Egyptian Company for Solid Waste Recycling (ECARU) ECARU is a firm that specializes in the operation of composting plants, the recovery of recyclables, and compost marketing. ECARU is a sister company of ENTAG, an Egyptian engineering contracting firm established in 1995 specialized in the design and supply of solid waste treatment systems and equipment. In addition to building 45 sorting, composting, and land filling facilities in Egypt, ENTAG has also provided turnkey composting facilities in Libya and Malaysia. ECARU has operated 10 facilities worldwide, mainly in Libya and Egypt. ANNEX 4 The Carbon Fund for Europe The Carbon Fund for Europe (CFE) is the carbon buyer from this project. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (“World Bank”), as Trustee of the Carbon Fund for Europe, signed the emission reductions purchase agreement with the project developer, ECARU. The CFE was launched in March 2007. With a capital base of 50 million Euros, the CFE will purchase greenhouse gas emission reductions from projects developed under the Kyoto Protocol to mitigate climate change. The five participants in CFE are Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Flemish region, and Stakraft Carbon Invest AS (Norway ). |
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