Mostafa El Gabaly, Managing Director at Abo Zaabal Fertilizers & Chemical Industries company, said that fertilizers industry is eco-friendly, but in a different way.<\/p>\n
“The perception people that have about fertilizers industry is quite wrong, fertilizers are a necessity,” he said during the 12th Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable Development (12th CSR Forum) which opened on Thursday.<\/p>\n
“Organic fertilizers cannot replace chemical fertilizers, they can be complement them, but in a very little volume.”<\/p>\n
“What people do not know about fertilizer production is actually environment-friendly but in a different way,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I am giving an example of our plant, we generate our own electricity from steam. We generate about 50 megawatts per hour.”<\/p>\n
He said this cuts carbon dioxide emissions by 50 million kilograms every year and this is equivalent to planting 2 million trees a year, adding “So, we are indirectly planting 2 million trees a year for 30 years now.”<\/p>\n
“About sustainability, there are two aspects. First, there is compliance, any manufacturer should comply to the Egyptian environmental laws which are quite similar to the EU or the US laws. So, compliance is a must.”<\/p>\n
There is also the opportunity, he said, “we have a lot of opportunities to improve the environment in general, through improving our efficiency in producing electricity.”<\/p>\n
“We produce our electricity”, he said, adding that this contributes to cutting expenses costs in the long term.<\/p>\n