Outline of a National Strategy For Cleaner Production: The Case of Egypt

Cleaner production is essentially aimed at increasing production efficiency, while at the same time eliminating or minimizing wastes and emissions at their source, rather than treating them after they have been generated. The concept is especially important to developing countries, where energy natural resources are scarce, and the pace of environmental degradation is continuously increasing. This paper is the outcome of an activity launched by the Egyptian Pollution Abatement Project (EPAP) presenting an outline of a proposed strategy to encourage the uptake and implementation of cleaner production in Egypt. The paper presents the importance of cleaner production to Egypt, and examines the steps taken in that direction. The paper also addresses the motivation for considering cleaner production in Egypt, and the challenges faced in that regard. The steps the industry has to take to achieving cleaner production goals are proposed, as well as the different policy instruments that the Egyptian government should implement to encourage cleaner production implementation.