oeoo in Ägypten
21. October 2020 2026-02-07 13:47oeoo in Ägypten
In spring 2021, oeoo started a long-term cleaning project of the Nile and adjacent waters in Cairo and Luxor together with the local NGO VeryNile.
Cleaning up the Nile
In spring 2021, oeoo launched a long-term cleanup project for the Nile and adjacent waters in Cairo and Luxor in collaboration with the local NGO VeryNile.
With a population of around 20 million, Cairo is the largest metropolis in Africa. At 6,671 km long, the Nile is not only the longest river on the continent and the most important source of drinking water in the desert state, but is also one of the 10 rivers most polluted with plastic waste in the world.
Where these two superlatives meet, oeoo launched a new long-term cleanup project for the Nile and adjacent waters in Cairo and Luxor in 2021 (the original launch in 2020 had to be postponed due to COVID-19) in collaboration with the local initiative VeryNile and numerous volunteers.
In spring 2021, oeoo financed a new SeeHamster, which was built in Cairo according to oeoo’s plans. It is manned five days a week by three local operators to clean the banks of the Nile.
The collected waste is further processed by the “Zabaleen”, a population group specialized in manual waste disposal, separation and recycling, which contributes to improving the income of this very poor immigrant population group.
In addition, VeryNile has been providing on-site education since 2018 to teach the often poorly informed population about the consequences of (marine) littering. Through our extensive contacts with the Egyptian Ministry of Environment and Education, we have a competent partner in VeryNile to implement a successful cleaning project on-site in the coming years. This project is financed by contributions from the Röchling Foundation as well as individual donations.
The river and its extensive network of irrigation canals have increasingly become dumping grounds for waste from across the country. Vast carpets of plastic clog the waterways and pollute the water.
Over time, this plastic breaks down into microplastics, which are carried onto agricultural fields through irrigation systems. The situation is particularly severe in the densely populated metropolitan area of Cairo.
The big clean-up starts
Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, our cleanup project in Cairo launched in early 2021 in cooperation with the local environmental organization VeryNile. oeoo used donations to finance the construction of a SeeHamster, which was built locally in Cairo in just four weeks following to oeoo’s technical plans (see photos).
The vessel was officially inaugurated in early March by the Egyptian Minister of the Environment and has since been in regular operation.
Together with 50 volunteers, over 1,000 kg of waste have already been collected. Starting in May 2021, oeoo began financing a two-person crew to ensure the SeeHamster’s ongoing operation and maintenance. At the end of 2021, a “Nile Day” involving all countries along the Nile was planned. Designed by oeoo,it focussed on joint efforts to improve the waste situation.
Founded in December 2018 by the Egyptian startup Bassita, VeryNile is the first initiative dedicated to developing sustainable solutions to clean the Nile while raising awareness on the importance of protecting our environment. VeryNile interlaces social and environmental impact and develops eco-friendly solutions to remove inorganic waste from the river.
In addition, VeryNile provides valuable educational work on site, training people on plastic prevention, waste disposal and the consequences of (marine) littering. oeoo supports their work with technical know-how and equipment.
In March 2019, ARD Weltspiegel showed a contribution to the topic and introduces our cooperation partners from VeryNile:
More information about VeryNile can be found here.
International coalition to clean up and protect the Nile River
On September 18-2021, World Cleanup Day, oeoo launched a “Nile Coalition” together with its partner VeryNile and environmental organisations from the Nile riparian countries Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. The goal of the coalition is to remove waste from the Nile and to permanently protect it from harmful environmental impacts. In the medium term, five more countries bordering the Nile are to join the initiative.
As the initiator of the coalition, oeoo was able to win the following environmental organisations:
Together, Together, the partners are taking concrete action within their respective countries
to clean up and protect the Nile, promote the issue on the official agenda and try to gain maximum publicity and support for the common cause.
We still support VeryNile in 2026.
