CEMEX will provide financial support to double the amount of waste collected and contribute to the direct employment of over 100 people in the fishing community of Qursaya. The programme also includes activities to raise awareness among citizens to help reduce pollution and preserve the Nile River. CEMEX will collaborate with VeryNile, an initiative supported by the Ministry of the Environment in Egypt that develops eco-friendly solutions to remove inorganic waste from the Nile River.
"CEMEX provides cities and other industries with solutions for waste management, helping build a zero-waste circular economy. The unique characteristics of our production process allow us to coprocess over 1.5 million tons of waste per year in the EMEAA region, equivalent to the annual waste generated by a city the size of Madrid or Berlin," said Sergio Menendez, President of CEMEX Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia. "This collaboration will help ramp up waste collection efforts in the Nile River, replace fossil fuels in our production process, and lower our carbon footprint in Egypt."
CEMEX is a net consumer of waste and provides waste management solutions in several cities around the globe. In 2021, CEMEX managed over 23 million tons of waste and byproducts from other industries globally.
Using waste as an alternative to fossil fuels mitigates the amount of waste sent to landfills. Landfilling generates methane, a greenhouse gas that is up to 80 times more harmful to the environment than CO2. As part of its Future in Action program to reach carbon neutrality, CEMEX aims to increase its alternative fuels consumption globally to 50% by 2030.
The partnership with VeryNile also aligns with CEMEX's commitment to foster a just transition to a low-carbon economy by remaining mindful of employability and lessening the divide between developed and developing nations. Education will be another major component of this partnership with an awareness campaign to change human behaviour and reduce the creation of waste.
CEMEX's commitment to clean waterways extends throughout its global operations. In Mexico, the company is part of the United for the Mexican Beaches initiative. In June 2022, beach cleanup activities were carried out along five kilometres of coastline in Oaxaca, in which more than 50 thousand PET plastic bottles were collected.
