First sustainability report for Antwerp
Antwerp: Using sustainability as a competitive edge
The Port of Antwerp has released its first sustainability report – part of its “Total Plan for a More Competitive Port”, launched in 2010 in response to the global financial crisis.
Antwerp Port Authority is keenly aware that sustainability may well become the new competitive advantage of the port – sustainability is of course being increasingly sought in a wider social and economic context.
Annik Dirkx, Antwerp Port Authority (APA) spokesperson, said to Port Strategy: "In earlier times we thought about port development in economical terms, nowadays we are convinced that development can only be realised by taking into account a number of preconditions that come from people, planet and profit."
She added: "The added value of a sustainability report for a whole port can only be realised by working together with all stakeholders, and thus from the very beginning of the process."
Of course, she points out that the report is an intermediate result that requires a follow up through an action plan that will be worked out during the next few months - achieving sustainability is a never ending process and thus a work in progress.
But the APA envisages a clean harbour where the quality of air, water and soil is safeguarded, where the waste flows are controlled, where nuisance for the surroundings is limited as much as possible and where space is used in a well-structured, high-quality and efficient way - and it's using the new report to create a benchmark for the vision.
This initial report already shows that arrangements for disposal of ships’ waste in Antwerp serves as an example of "best practice" for other European ports. It also shows that Antwerp is moving slowly away from road transport in favour of more environmentally friendly modes – which now account for less than 50% of all freight movements.
A sustainability report will be produced bi-annually from now on, in order to provide a framework for measurement.
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