Source: Port of Helsinki<\/cite><\/p>\nCruise ferries calling at the Port of Helsinki have easy access to the city.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The port handles both solid waste and food waste, sending trucks to wait for the cruise vessels to offload at agreed times. This process has been refined over the years to make it more efficient, he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the beginning we had individual trucks, each collecting one type of waste. Then we realised it would be more efficient to have trucks that can take up to four different types of waste, each type sorted in the same truck. We are trying to optimise that process and it works very well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wastewater collection is also at an advanced stage, with close to 100% of wastewater from passenger ships being left in the port. \u201cAll modern vessels have these connections and we give them the incentive, making it easy for ships to leave their wastewater,\u201d says Mr Slotte.<\/p>\n
At the time of going to press with this article, the port was engaged in a procurement process to appoint a contractor to handle waste disposal from all the vessels visiting Helsinki. For the first time the criteria for this contract will include implementation of emission standards, with those companies tendering for it receiving more points for being able to sustainably manage waste with their equipment.<\/p>\n
Mr Slotte says: \u201cWe have had a very high standard of waste handling up to now, with a dedicated waste management officer from the port side for five years. This officer goes to visit all the vessels when they come for the first time and goes through our routines and how we would prefer to have waste sorted. These things are quite mundane but they add up \u2013 it\u2019s a long list. The vessel operators really enjoy it as it makes things so much easier for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
He believes that cruise operators have many opportunities to help the port reach its waste management targets, especially by appointing a waste handling team to make the necessary arrangements when their vessels arrive. They can also benefit financially from taking positive action in this regard. \u201cIf a cruise operator is able to show they can minimise waste in more sustainable ways, such as leaving wastewater at our port reception facilities, they can get a 20% rebate for doing so.\u201d<\/p>\n
The port is committed to working with its stakeholders and the wider community to promote sustainability on projects and programmes to improve the environmental profile of the city and region. Together with cruise shipping partners, the port has also achieved Visit Finland\u2019s Sustainable Travel Finland certification for its activity in the cruise segment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a limited amount of things port can do directly but there is a lot we can do together with customers and stakeholders, which highlights how important cooperation is,\u201d says Mr Slotte. \u201cWaste management and onshore power both need cooperation to be successful, and vessel-side investment is needed too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cooperation with the end user of the cruise industry \u2013 the guest \u2013 is also crucial, in his opinion. \u201cThe person that decides to go on a cruise won\u2019t do it if the cruise doesn\u2019t seem sustainable enough. This is the reason we all are working so hard on these issues, to ensure the continuation of the whole industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
He regards working together with other ports to improve sustainability as not only necessary but a natural choice.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the other ports in the world are not our competitors. You need many ports for the cruise industry to work, with cooperation between ports and sharing plans and targets. This creates a very positive environment and it\u2019s in everyone\u2019s interest that everyone succeeds.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Andreas Slotte, head of sustainable development, Port of Helsinki, discusses the port\u2019s green agenda with Michele Witthaus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2496,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[580],"sponsor":[],"class_list":["post-2495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cruise-greenport","tag-finland"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2495"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2499,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495\/revisions\/2499"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2495"},{"taxonomy":"sponsor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sponsor?post=2495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}