Cleaning up the Nile

Maersk in Egypt joins an event that takes local action on the path towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In collaboration with a local rising start-up, Greenish, the Embassy of Denmark in Egypt organized the first Nile clean-up event for Danish companies. The initiative being calles "SDGs in action on the Nile".

Greenish is a social enterprise in Egypt that designs and delivers knowledge about the environment, to enable individually and businesses to become socially and environmentally aware.

Sustainability at the heart of Maersk

At A.P. Moller - Maersk we define corporate sustainability as working systematically to reduce negative and enhance positive impacts on people, society, and the environment. Climate change remains the key environmental issue across the Maersk Group. 

In the area of plastic litter, we have established collaboration with The Ocean Cleanup project. Collecting and removing plastic already in the oceans will, however, not solve the real problem which is mainly caused by insufficient waste management on land, rivers, and seam and we know that making the oceans healthy will require a multi-layer solution with a multitude of innovation and change.

Transforming our world in support of the SDGs

The "SDGs in action on the Nile" event took place on June 12th. Attendees were welcomed by Shady Khalil, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Greenish, and Mr Tomas Anker Christensen, Danish Ambassador to Egypt. 

Companies were invited to engage their employees and join the Nile clean-up. From Maersk, 30 volunteers gathered in the early afternoon at the banks of the Nile and took action in reducing plastic waste in the river. Altogether, the event successfully collected a total of 1,5 tons of waste. 

Afterwards there were some workshops that focused on recycling and how to better utilize waste, this including biodegradable plastic and regular plastic. Our colleagues that attended left with a new understanding on how to become more environmentally friendly and how to use more eco-friendly alternatives. 

Read other testimonials from Maersk employees:

This was a great new experience for me. We took away valuable knowledge that will make a difference in the world. - Hend El Kordy, Sales Representative.

One of the most important reasons we do these things are to save natural resources for our chilren, and going green will only help. - Tasnim Saleh, Administration Manager.

I believe that what we did, although symbolic, will trigger some awareness of how we should treat our environment and how we shall be part of the change and continuous improvement of our surrounding. A change in mindset is important. -  Hatem Afify, Sales Representative.

Every little contribution helps as our actions are increasing the awareness and changing our behaviour. We encourage you to push forward local initiatives. - Toon Pierre, Sales Manager Egypt.