Water efficiency in the industry
The water stress in Jordan is unquestionably a huge burden on the country and its residents. Freshwater resources are becoming less available and the search for additional supplies is no easy task. The critical water situation in Jordan makes any effort, small or large, to reduce water consumption, improve efficiency, or allow the reuse of treated wastewater an applauded effort as it will contribute to improved water security conditions in the country.
One of the most promising domains to improve water use efficiency is the industrial sector. Despite representing a low share of all water resources used in Jordan (3-5% of total water budget, representing around 40 million m3 annually), the vast majority of industries use freshwater supplies sourced from non-renewable groundwater resources. With the demand in industries expected to grow in the next years, the need to find innovative approaches to resource-efficient water utilization becomes not only necessary to grow the sector, but also avoid catastrophic business interruptions.
The need to work with industrial companies is also emphasized by the fact that water utilization in industrial activities produces a much higher economic output than other sectors. Generally speaking, the economic output of the water consumed for industrial purposes is 70 times more than for irrigated agriculture Furthermore, industries provide the most jobs per unit of water consumed (accounts for 3,777 jobs created per cubic meter used for industrial activities) and manufacturing generates 18% of the country's total gross domestic product (GDP).
As water has been identified as one of the key environmental issues for medium to large enterprises in numerous industrial sectors in Jordan, GIZ and cewas are implementing the Water Action in Enterprises (WAIN) project as part of the GAIN project to develop, improve and deliver technical and financial support services to enterprises to implement water conservation measures in production.
About Water Action in Enterprises (WAIN)
To contribute to the overall project goal of (industrial) companies in Jordan using more environmentally friendly and resource-saving production methods, cewas developed and implemented a practical approach to assessing companies profiles and measuring the feasibility of water efficiency actions. To do that, cewas followed the following structured methodology:
- Companies Screening: to identify the most in need companies for water efficiency intervention and collect primary data
- Rapid Assessment: to validate data and initiate a discussion with companies to measure their willingness to address water efficiency needs
- Project/Intervention Feasibility Assessment: to identify the needed solutions with focus on innovative approaches that fit their needs and present additional value
- Financial Feasibility Assessment: to ensure selected interventions are worth the investment
- Finance Facilitation: to match companies in need of financial assistance with suitable financing instruments with focus on green financing schemes
About GAIN
From 2020 to 2023, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is implementing the Green Action in Enterprises (GAIN) project in Jordan on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and under the auspices of the Jordanian Ministry of Environment (MoE). With the GAIN project, GIZ supports the Jordanian industrial sector in technical, financial and governance terms to strengthen its resilience and accelerate the transition to environmentally friendly and resource-efficient production methods.
The project enables Jordan’s private sector to use environmentally friendly and resource-saving production methods. GIZ works with local and international to assist industrial companies from five sub-sectors, namely food industries, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and packaging towards achieving the following main outcomes:
- Improving the technical capacities of selected state institutions to regulate and promote environmentally friendly and resource-efficient production.
- Developing services and supporting increased access to technical and financial support services for industries to implement ecologically sustainable production methods.
- Optimising environmental and resource efficient measures in production processes of the private sector.
This approach supports policymakers, service providers and businesses in creating a green industrial landscape with sustainable practices and environmental benefits.
About CEWAS
cewas (www.cewas.org) was established in 2010 and is considered the world’s first dedicated water businesses support organisation for impact-oriented solutions. Today, cewas guides and supports water entrepreneurs all along their entrepreneurial journey from ideation, incubation, acceleration to scale-up, develops respective markets and activates ecosystem actors to invest into building sustainable pipelines. Since 2010, cewas has worked with over 160 partners in 40 countries across the globe, trained over 1,500 people in water entrepreneurship and supported more than 300 water-related entrepreneurs. But most importantly, those innovators have created solutions with environmental and social impact benefiting more than 3 million people.
cewas’ team is composed of engineers, business and administrative specialists, sustainable development specialists, scientists and geographers all with their own first-hand entrepreneurial experience, capable of designing and conducting projects in more than 5 languages. Since 2015, cewas has permanent staff deployed across the Middle East with a focus on Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine and has been working regionally in the Middle East providing long-term water and environmental entrepreneurship, market development and ecosystem development support. cewas has tailored ecosystem and market development interventions focused on water innovation in different sub-sectors and along the value chain of water management.
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