Pollution prevention in the Moroccan agroprocessing industry

Units processing agricultural products, especially sugar (beet and cane) and olive oil processing plants, and fruit and vegetable canneries, use large quantities of water and generate effluents which are loaded with biodegradable organic materials, which comprise almost three-quarters of all biodegradable organic materials generated by Moroccan industry. This pollution, primarily liquid and seasonal, seriously affects the regions where the agribusiness industry is located. One of the hardest hit areas is the Sebou Watershed (especially the area around Fez), which produces more than 80% of Moroccan olive oil. Water quality is worsening. Since 1988, two water purification plants which are located on the Sebou Watershed and supply the city of Fez have had to shut down each year during the olive oil processing season because they can no longer purify the water which becomes polluted by their effluents. Industrial (mostly agribusiness), urban, and agricultural effluents use all the oxygen required to keep the Sebou alive, effectively killing the river for 22 miles downstream from Fez. In addition, the incidence of waterborne disease is high. The Sebou and Oum Er Rbia Wadis are the most important starting points and propagation zones for waterborne diseases. The Public Health Ministry has described Fez as "cholera"s hub." Moroccan industry has significant potential for reducing its effluents. For example, Moroccan beet sugar plant effluents (on average 2 cubic meters/ton of beet) are five times higher than those of healthy European and U.S. plants (e.g., 0.4 cubic meters/ton of beet in Belgium), and Moroccan cane sugar plant effluents are 2-10 times higher than the typical plants in India or the United States. Moroccan industry has tended to resist installing pollution control equipment because of its relatively high cost. However, in recent years a new approach, pollution prevention (or clean technology), offers opportunities to improve efficiency and product quality while reducing pollution. These technologies and practices focus on process changes, recycling, waste minimization, conservation, and material substitution to reduce pollutants, increase efficiency, and reduce production costs. The pollution prevention techniques differ substantially from the traditional "end-of-pipe" treatments that try only to clean up pollutants after they have been generated in the process, and which simply add to capital and operating costs without affecting plant output. Experience in the United States and some developing countries has shown that pollution prevention approaches can reduce plant emissions by 20-60% percent at little or no cost, or through investments that pay back in less than one year. Some Moroccan industries, especially the sugar industry, have recently made noticeable efforts to reduce their pollution. They have reduced water consumption, increased the efficiency of their manufacturing processes, and partially stored their effluents. In the past 10 years, sugar plants have reduced their effluents by 30-70% and their polluting load by 30%. One of Morocco"s largest olive oil processing plants has just implemented recycling techniques to reduce water consumption by 25% in 1995 and by more than 90% in 1996. Olive oil processing plants are trying to identify landfills outside of cities instead of disposing their residues directly into the wadis. Canneries currently seem less advanced in pollution prevention efforts but appear aware that they will have to make efforts soon. Economic, financial, and awareness actions, as well as training, are recommended.