IFC requires that this document is made available through the World Bank InfoShop and to the locally affected community no less than 30 days prior to project consideration by the IFC Board of Directors. The Summary of Project Information (SPI) also provides details of where the ERS has been made available to the locally affected community. The SPI must also be sent to the World Bank InfoShop no less than 30 days prior to project consideration by the IFC Board of Directors.

This is a Category B project according to IFC’s Procedure for Environmental and Social Review of Projects because a limited number of specific environmental and social impacts may result which can be avoided or mitigated by adhering to generally recognized performance standards, guidelines or design criteria. The review of this project consisted of appraising technical, environmental, worker health and safety, labor and community information provided by the project sponsor as well as site visits to the paper mill and associated production facilities in Amman, Jordan and Cairo, Egypt. The following environmental, worker health and safety, labor and community impacts and issues associated with the project sponsor’s current activities as well as the potential impacts of the proposed expansion program were analyzed: - the compliance of the Nuqul Group with Jordanian and Egyptian environmental and worker health and safety (EHS) requirements as well as IFC’s EHS requirements; - the commitment of the Nuqul Group to quality and to international EHS performance including ISO (Quality and Environmental Management) and OHSAS (Occupational Health and Safety) certifications; and - the commitment of the Nuqul Group to their labor force and the community.

The project sponsor, the Nuqul Group, has provided details of their existing production facilities, including Annual Monitoring Reports to IFC as a result of earlier IFC investments, and plans to address the impacts associated with the proposed project which indicate that the existing facilities currently comply and the proposed project will comply with both Jordanian and Egyptian EHS requirements and the requisite laws and regulations as well as the IFC environment and social policies and the environment, health and safety guidelines. - Compliance with Jordanian, Egyptian and IFC EHS Requirements: the company has completed a number of programs to reduce water and energy use and is now a very efficient user of these resources. In Jordan process and domestic wastewater is treated prior to complete reuse as irrigation water for green areas around the plant complex and on a nearby farm. In Egypt the process and domestic wastewater is pretreated prior to either some reuse in the plant or discharge to a sewer system servicing the industrial estate for additional treatment. Raw water is supplied from deep wells in Jordan and from the River Nile in Egypt – in both cases water is scarce and expensive and thus the need to be resource efficient. Heavy fuel oil is used as boiler fuel but this will be switched to natural gas as soon as it becomes available. Monitoring of the wastewaters and the air emissions indicate compliance with Jordanian and Egyptian requirements as well as those of IFC. Clean waste paper is reused in the mills whereas other waste is sold to recyclers (e.g. bottles, cans, plastics, and newspapers). Other solid waste that cannot be recycled is sent for disposal to local municipal landfills. - ISO and OHSAS Certifications and Other Awards: the Nuqul Group has detailed policies on environment, quality, and worker health and safety. All manufacturing companies in the Group are ISO 9001 (Quality) and ISO 14001 (Environmental Management) certified and have committed to achieve OHSAS 18001 (Worker Health and Safety) certification during 2006. The Group has received numerous awards for excellence including the King Abdullah II Award for Excellence in 2001 and 2003 and the Government of Jordan Award for Safety in 2002, 2003 and 2004. The Group has agreed that a member of the Board of Directors should have specific responsibility for environmental issues (as there is for Human Resource issues). - Labor Issues: the Nuqul Group has developed a very detailed Group Standards Manual covering such topics as organization, operation, communication, marketing, human resources, diversity issues, and code of ethics. The Manual is now being implemented at the Group’s operations in Jordan and will shortly be implemented in Egypt and elsewhere in the Group. The Manual is based on international best practice and requires a very high standard of performance. There are detailed worker health and safety procedures and all new employees are trained and plant performance is monitored and is excellent. The Group’s Board of Directors has a Human Resource (HR) Committee and one of the Director’s has specific responsibility for HR issues. The Group also publishes a regular newsletter for it’s employees. Workers salaries and benefits are very competitive when compared to the market. There are health clinics with doctors and nurses at each plant complex and ambulances to take the more seriously injured to local hospitals. - Community Issues: the Nuqul Group has been active in the local communities for many years, particularly in Jordan. The focus of these activities is education and healthcare. These programs are overseen by the Head of Corporate Relations for the Group. Needs for the communities are identified annually and prioritized – assistance is provided to local schools, fire departments, mosques, and for the disabled. Employees children receive scholarships to attend school and university. The Group has established a Fund and finances a business incubator to help young entrepreneurs. The Group has recently made a large donation to the Cancer Hospital in Cairo

This ERS contains the full environmental and social documentation prepared for the project.

Accordingly, IFC concludes that the proposed project will meet the applicable Jordanian and Egyptian requirements as well as the IFC environment and social policies and the environmental, health and safety guidelines upon successful implementation of the agreed mitigation measures.

IFC will evaluate the project's compliance with the applicable Jordanian, Egyptian and IFC environmental, health and safety, and social requirements during the lifetime of the project by reviewing the annual monitoring reports (AMRs) prepared for the project covering the ongoing performance of project-specific environmental, health and safety (EHS) and social activities. Periodic site supervision visits will also be conducted.