Few Gouna residents might be interested in their waste and where it ends up. However, El Gouna is a town making strides in reducing its carbon footprint and going green. Therefore Gouna News thought it appropriate to investigate this aspect of 'Life as it should be'.
The story begins and ends with ERTEKAA, a company that is responsible for gathering our waste and disposing of it. Eng. Hatem Samir Mohamed, Project Manager for Gouna at ERTEKAA (email ertkaa.gouna.projm@gmail.com) was kind enough to explain to Gouna News the workings of the operation.
ERTEKAA is an Arabic word, (in Arabic ارتقاء). It means Advancement/Upgrade and stands for 'Enhancement of Integrated Services and Waste Recycling Company'
ERTEKAA is an Arabic word, (in Arabic ارتقاء). It means Advancement/Upgrade and stands for 'Enhancement of Integrated Services and Waste Recycling Company'
The company was established in January 2008, as an Egyptian joint stock company and a collaboration between leading professionals in Solid Waste Management (SWM) in Egypt, with more than 30 years of experience in the field. The company was awarded a contract for El Gouna and began operations in November 2014.
ERTEKAA’s vision is to improve the implementation of the integrated solid waste management all over Egypt to reduce the quantity of hazardous solid waste disposed to the maximum feasible extent and achieve the visionary goal of a zero waste society.
ERTEKAA offers a variety of services and technologies that meet the needs of customers, adapted for Egyptian conditions in the areas of SWM and environmental protection, according to the law on hygiene No. 38, law of Environment No. 4 of 1994 and No. 9 of 2009 and in accordance with the standards and environmental requirements for the certificate of waste management and LEED regulations (Leadership In Energy and Environmental Design), ISO 14001 and ISO 9001.
Solid waste generated from El-Gouna is collected, handled and environmentally treated daily in accordance with above standards. There is good cooperation between ERTEKAA and Orascom's housekeeping team to protect residents and employees’ health and to keep the environment clean and free of any contamination. In addition, the company strives to eliminate the use of landfills. This is achieved through a comprehensive strategy that considers the entire life cycle, from garbage separation, reuse, salvation and recycling of collected waste.
ERTEKAA Integrated Solid Waste Management for El-Gouna includes the proper collection of the primary separated garbage from the garbage room, 17 Hotels, loading and handling, using specific environmental equipment for agricultural waste and municipal solid waste.
The collected municipal waste is loaded and transferred to ERTEKAA Elgouna station, in the west mountain, beside El Gouna farm, using trucks with tightly sealed trunks to prevent waste contamination. It is then sorted. A high percentage of the sorted waste is recycled. The remaining non-recycled waste is transferred to be dumped at the official dump site for the Red Sea (المقلب المحكوم). ERTEKAA currently has reached an 85% waste recycling performance rate. Paper and cardboard are recycled to usable paper and cartons. Metal to metal products and plastic to plastic bin bags
ERTEKAA quality control unit monitors and supervises the efficiency and application of personal protective equipment (PPEs), Health Safety Security Environment (HSSE) activities, work procedures and the quality of the produced recycled products to ensure service quality, transparency and efficiency of the according to the environmental standards and regulations.
Of course, we, as residents can all help keeping El Gouna greener as well by following the rule:
