WEC Celebrates Closing Ceremony of Morocco Cleaner Production Project
CASABLANCA, MOROCCO, February 27, 2013 /3BL Media/ - The World Environment Center (WEC) announced today the successful completion of a U.S. Department of State funded project to expand the sustainable development commitments of Moroccan businesses by reducing energy and water consumption, minimizing waste and raw material usage and lowering operating costs. WEC has partnered with the Moroccan Cleaner Production Center (CMPP) to implement the local activities and provide advanced technical expertise for the project. The partnership, funded by the United States Department of State through its “Cleaner Production Private Sector Partnerships” program, is the third of its kind between the State Department and WEC, and spans six countries.
Through the WEC and CMPP partnership with the Moroccan agro products-canning processor association, FICOPAM (Fédération des Industries de la Conserve des Produits Agricoles), WEC/CMPP’s technical team selected 18 small and medium-sized local member companies to provide technical assistance in Cleaner Production and Energy Efficiency, strengthening their environmental capabilities as they grow.
Ms. Hanan Hanzaz, Director of the Moroccan Cleaner Production Centre (CMPP), emphasized that “The partnership between CMPP and WEC was successful due in large part to our capacity to implement activities that advance WEC and CMPP’s mission and objectives. The activities of the project (capacity building, information dissemination and technical assistance) helped to include sustainability into the core businesses of the pilot companies. The results achieved to date prove that the project was very successful”.
The participating businesses applied action plans based on WEC´s Greening the Supply Chain methodology as well as the CMPP’s Cleaner production methodology to improve the usage of their resources and increase their operational efficiency while becoming more environmentally sustainable businesses. The participating companies have implemented improvements in their facilities that have been suggested through this project.
The activities will continue through September 2013 with five selected companies who have demonstrated particular commitment to the project, additional potential for improvement and a desire to continue in the “Champion Class”. This additional activity will continue to further promote the benefits of sustainable practices in the local food processing industry.
“WEC and our partners believe that the best sustainable outcomes occur when we apply creative and practical business solutions to address environmental and operational issues,” stated Dr. Terry F. Yosie, WEC’s President and CEO. “We’re pleased to continue this approach in Morocco and in several other countries as an example of small businesses leading sustainable development efforts through innovative environmental and economic improvements.”
About World Environment Center
WEC is an independent, global non-profit, non-advocacy organization that advances sustainable development through the business practices and operations of its member companies and in partnership with governments, multi-lateral organizations, non-governmental organizations, universities and other stakeholders. WEC’s mission is to promote business and societal value by advancing solutions to sustainable development-related problems. It manages projects for companies across their global operations, builds executive-level learning and competency in applying sustainable development across a number of business sectors, and recognizes performance excellence through an annual awards program. WEC is headquartered in Washington, DC, with regional offices in China, El Salvador and Germany.
About CMPP
The Moroccan Cleaner Production Centre (CMPP: Centre Marocain de Production Propre) is a not-for-profit association created in 2000 and hosted by the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM) under a public-private partnership with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and New Technologies and the Department of Environment.
The CMPP activities aim at increasing the competitiveness of Moroccan industries, especially SMEs to access to the global market. The CMPP’s mission is to assist the national industries, especially SMEs, to adopt the Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production (RECP) and the transfer of Environmentally Sound Technologies (EST).
The CMPP is a member of the Global Network for Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production (RECP) that operates under the patronage of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the United Nations Environmental Programme.
