Cleaning up the world’s longest river

DP World partners with VeryNile to remove waste from the Nile, supporting sustainability and preserving Egypt’s vital trade route.

Since before the days of the Pharaohs, the River Nile has brought prosperity to the people living on its banks. Its water is used to irrigate the Nile valley, creating some of Africa’s most fertile farmlands. Used as a waterway to ferry goods, the river has facilitated the flow of trade in the region for millennia. It is the essence of life in Egypt.

However, the Nile has been used to carry more than just goods. Over the centuries, bathwater, sewerage, industrial effluent and plenty of plastic objects have ended up in the river. In some areas, its clear blue waters have turned a murky brown due to pollution and environmental degradation. Because the Nile is so important for the environment and as a facilitator of trade and economic growth, we decided to do something about it.  

Teaming up with the VeryNile campaign, we set out to help clean up the world’s longest river. During our Global Volunteer Week, when we encourage employees to support their communities, 30 people from our team at DP World Sokhna put on their gloves and boots and started collecting up litter that had been thrown into the river. In total, we removed over 600kg of waste, which included a lot of single use plastic bottles and all kinds of other rubbish.

Projects like this that protect natural habitats and ecosystems are a good way of putting our sustainability strategy, Our World, Our Future, into practice. As well as cleaning up the riverbank and the immediate area, we’re also preventing harmful waste from reaching the sea, thereby helping protect life in the oceans, which is one of our core sustainability goals.

This was our first initiative with the VeryNile campaign, and through continuing our work with VeryNile, we hope to play our part in improving environmental awareness in the community and developing sustainable ways of cleaning the river such as recycling and upcycling programmes.

At the Port of Sokhna, we import and export goods from Egypt, connecting the country with global trade networks and helping promote economic growth. Meanwhile, by helping clean up the Nile we’re also helping the country maintain its original trade network and source of prosperity. One day, we hope to see clear blue waters flowing the entire length of the Nile, into the ocean.

This story is just one of the ways we connected people, markets and nations. Find out more in the annual Smarter Trade report

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