Wake up and smell the rubbish
If you want an example of a company that ‘gets it,’ try Agility. The Kuwaiti logistics giant’s CSR manager, Mariam Al-Foudery, spoke to TRENDS about the pressing need for people in the region to wake up to the burden they’re placing on the environment.
What’s the most pressing environmental challenge facing the Middle East today?
Obviously, the environmental challenges are somewhat different depending on what part of the Middle East we are speaking about: Egypt vs. Sham vs. the Gulf. In the Gulf in particular, however, I think the most pressing environmental challenge is the absence of an ethic of pro-activity when it comes to mitigating environmental impact.
It is a strange paradox. On one hand, we see massive over-consumption as a result of low energy prices – would we have so many SUVs on our roads if fuel was not cheap? Would we build so inefficiently for our climate if electricity was not hugely subsidized by the state? Would cars routinely be washed twice a day if we did not have subsidized water from desalination plants?
And yet at the same time, I think it is becoming increasingly clear that we cannot exactly afford to ignore environmental issues. Water scarcity continues to be a problem in the region (a conflict-causing problem in some countries). Trash, plastic bags, and cans litter the beaches and deserts that only two generations ago used to provide people with their livelihood and basis for tradition and culture. In Kuwait, I can tell you from experience, we feel the consequences of environmental devastation personally: pollution from oil fires after the Gulf War has caused health problems that we are only now beginning to understand, there have been serious water shortages over the course of the last year, sewage and chemicals being dumped into the sea periodically results in literally thousands of schools of dead fish being washed onto the shore.
Unfortunately, I think there is often a lack of empowerment and drive when it comes to changing the situation though. People do not fully understand how individual actions can both contribute to, or mitigate, risks to the environment. People have not started working together to demand changes in the way that energy is consumed. There is not enough awareness and advocacy even about simple things – like throwing a can out of a car, let alone bigger things like recycling, or several notches up, more fuel-efficient technologies. And I think that is a very real problem.
People talk of a business case for going green, and the Gulf States are making a start with Dubai Recycling Park and Abu Dhabi’s Masdar green city. How much of a step forward is this? Given the size of the region, are projects like this any more than window dressing?
I think projects like these are a valuable starting point, for two reasons: first of all, they help speak to the problem of awareness and advocacy. They are tools through which information about the environment and environmental challenges can actually be communicated – they generate ‘buzz’ among the general public, the business community, and governmental entities. And at this point, ‘buzz’ is definitely needed. Second, they offer some immediate, hands-on, ways of engaging to interested parties.
Systematic, region-wide recycling, energy trading of any kind, and a vision of a zero carbon city … in the current context, those are big things, not to be dismissed lightly. Is there more that needs to be done? Absolutely, and there always will be, but you have to start somewhere, and these billion-dollar investments are a commitment that at least some people, at least somewhere, and at least on some scale, are beginning to take environmental issues seriously in the Middle East.
What is Agility doing toward being a cleaner, greener company?
Agility is conscious of the need to safeguard the environment for future generations, and we take that responsibility seriously. In addition running a greener transport fleet, and beach cleaning activities, some of the things we do to ensure that we are a cleaner, greener company include:
Running a corporate recycling program in Kuwait, with bins in 18 different locations throughout the company to collect paper waster. We are also planning to recycle plastic, metal wood and rubber waste by the end of the year.
Through our subsidiary, the Metal and Recycling Company (MRC), Agility shreds 50 tons of metal per hour for re-export or supply to local iron companies. We also own the only factory in Kuwait that recycles waste plastic, producing 9,000 tons of shredded and bubble plastic per year. We are also fully committed to the following environmental targets: ensuring that at least 80 percent of our trucks comply with US CFR and EPA standards by June, 2007; ensuring that 100 percent of waste oil generated by the Warehousing and Transport Divisions is recycled through MRC; ensuring that 100 percent of solid wastes generated by the Warehousing and Transport divisions are also recycled through MRC.
We at Agility are extremely proud of the fact that we hold an Environmental Management Certification from the Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance in Dubai, showing that we conform to the International Standard ISO 14001:2004 for our strong policies, procedures, and programs with regard to environmental protection in the communities in which we operate.
