The Port of Antwerp has become the first port in Europe to join Operation Clean Sweep, an international programme aiming to prevent plastic litter materials from getting into the marine environment.
Companies which sign up to the venture, which is supported by European trade association PlasticsEurope, commit to helping to realise zero plastic pellet loss.
As part of the programme, Antwerp Port Authority is organising a Zero Pellet Loss initiative with essenscia (the Belgian Federation for Chemistry and Life Sciences Industries), logistics company FEBETRA, KVBG (the Royal Association of Trafficflow Controllers), PlasticsEurope and Transport en Logistiek Vlaanderen.
The main goal of this initiative is to reduce the loss of plastic pellets to the absolute minimum, with weekly monitoring used to identify the locations where plastics can be found in the environment in order for the pollution to be traced to its source and action taken to prevent it.
An incident manager will monitor pollution and act to clear it when necessary.
Though various initiatives have previously been undertaken to prevent the loss of plastic pellets, the port said that in order to make further progress, adopting an approach that covers the whole port and the whole sector is essential.
The port is also focusing on the theme of more sustainable production and processing of polymers.
The Operation Clean Sweep charter was signed on the same day as the Antwerp port community presenting its fourth Sustainability Report.
The report, which is created biannually, looks the initiatives by companies in the port to operate as sustainably as they can, thus contributing towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations (UN).
