Sustainability success for Mepco

20/11/2017 15:29 AST

The Middle East Paper Co (Mepco), a leading vertically-integrated paper manufacturer in the region, has highlighted its commitment to economic and environmental sustainability through three major operational cost-efficient benchmarks.

The environmental sustainability underpinning Mepco's operational model demonstrates a significant cost reduction of around 35 per cent through the generation of its own power, when compared with sourcing from the national grid, said a statement from the company.

This is further bolstered by Mepco achieving between 10-15 per cent cost reductions through waste water recycling, it said.

Moreover, Waste Collection and Recycling Company (Wasco), its wholly-owned subsidiary, supplies approximately 90 per cent of Mepco's raw materials through waste paper collection, it added.

Eng Sami Safran, CEO of Mepco, said: "Environmental sustainability is more than an initiative at our company, it is ingrained in our operational framework."

"We operate in an energy-intensive industry that consumes high levels of electricity and water. Our conservative resource management practices play a significant role in controlling costs, enhancing its production efficiency and contributing towards sustainability," he said.

"Our water recycling, power generation and domestically-sourced raw materials are all splendid examples of how an environmentally sustainable operational model can positively impact a company's bottom line," he added.

Mepco carefully manages its resources by using captive power generation, a locally-sourced power facility that will allow for significant cost reduction, maximise the utilisation of its own resources, and provide fully-integrated processes, said a statement.

Around 70 per cent of waste water is collected during manufacturing, purified, and then recycled. This process allows Mepco to keep water consumption levels at about 5 cu m per tonnes, which is significantly lower than the industry standard of approximately 20 cu m per tonnes, it said.

Formalising its sustainability processes, Mepco has created an 'internal energy conservation team', that will provide an ongoing effort towards effective power management. This team has already saved around 1.5 MW of power per hour in the process, stemming from capacity management of equipment, optimising process parameters, reducing idle times and providing alternate methods of lighting.

Safran continued: "Our resource-efficient measures see our overall production costs reduced significantly in comparison to our competitors. For any business, cost efficiency of operations is an ongoing consideration and for a manufacturing company located in a desert climate, operational and resource efficiency is of premium importance."

"With our production requiring steam generation, Mepco installed high-pressure boilers and high-speed turbines, serving both power generation and production. This method ensures that the cost of power is approximately 35 per cent lower when compared to the grid, helping Mepco to be considerably more cost efficient," he added.

Wasco collects over 40 per cent of Saudi Arabia's waste paper through 24 established hubs and a fleet of 350 vehicles. Founded in 2004, just a few years after Mepco's inception, Wasco has recently expanded from Saudi Arabia to include neighbouring countries in its waste collection efforts.

Mepco has realised in excess of 700 per cent sales growth in just 15 years and has expanded from presence in the GCC market to representation in over 40 countries across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. Wasco collects almost half a million tons of waste annually, it stated.

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