Organic waste recovery: Suez strengthens its position in the agro-industry in Morocco

Suez wins a new market in Morocco. The global water and waste management giant is strengthening its partnership with the Moroccan group Azura through two new 6-year contracts. The contracts cover the recovery of Azura’s agricultural waste in Agadir in western Morocco and Dakhla in Western Sahara.

Under this contract, Suez Maroc will set up two platforms capable of handling 116,000 tonnes of organic waste per year. This waste will be used to produce 42,000 tonnes of compost and 43,000 tonnes of semi-finished solid recovered fuel (SRF). CSR can be used for optimal combustion in industrial furnaces. These products are used to produce electricity, heat (in cement works, for example) and steam, possibly in cogeneration.

In a context of water stress, a solution for soil restoration

For Suez, “in the face of water stress, compost as an organic amendment offers an alternative for increasing water retention and improving soil quality. It also helps to meet climate challenges by reintegrating carbon into the soil”. The compost produced will be marketed by a local player to agricultural producers in the region.

This new contract “demonstrates the ability of Suez teams to continually offer its customers resilient and innovative solutions that are different and offer high added value, in order to reduce the environmental impact of their activities”, explains Benjamin Vauthier, Managing Director of Suez in Morocco. The Azura group estimates that the forthcoming installation by Suez of two composting platforms will reduce its carbon footprint by around 16,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent each year.

The partnership between Suez and Azura will thus contribute to the development of circular agriculture in Morocco. According to projections, regional agricultural and agro-industrial waste deposits are set to increase by 2030, with quantities estimated at around 3 million tonnes per year for livestock waste, 4,000 to 5,000 tonnes per year for agro-industrial waste, and 46,000 tonnes per year for crop residues, according to the Crédit Agricole du Maroc (CAM) bank.

Cover photo: By AFRIK21