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The Bouskoura station for the decontamination of equipment contaminated with persistent organic pollutants (POPs), located 20 kilometers south of Casablanca, is the first of its kind in Africa and in the Arab world, Morocco’s Minister of Energy, Aziz Rabbah, has declared.
Rabbah made the announcement during an inspection visit to the station, accompanied by Hanan Hanzaz, the Country Representative of the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Morocco.Â
Persistent organic pollutants are mainly found in electrical transformers and industrial oils.
Contaminated electrical transformers from all over Morocco go to the Bouskoura station for decontamination and rehabilitation.
The decontamination and rehabilitation of this type of equipment allow for the reuse of raw materials, Rabbah explained, saying the Bouskoura station is one of Morocco’s major projects to protect the environment.
After the decontamination of electrical transformers, the persistent organic pollutants are shipped to specialized centers abroad to be completely eliminated.
During the visit, Rabbah presented some of Morocco’s efforts in the fight against pollution and in the protection of the environment.
He recalled that Morocco signed and ratified in 2004 the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. The international environmental treaty aimed to eliminate or restrict the production and use of persistent organic pollutants.
After signing the convention, Morocco received $7 million as financial support to launch a national program to eliminate this type of pollutant. The country also received technical assistance from UNIDO.
The Bouskoura station is Morocco’s flagship project for the program. It has so far decontaminated 1,740 electrical transformers and 541 tonnes of oils contaminated by persistent organic pollutants.
