The Port of Emden receives environmental certificate
Foto: NPorts. Eamonn O’Reilly (ESPO, Chairman), Dr. Matthäus Wuczkowski (NPorts, Sustainability Manager), Isabelle Ryckbost (ESPO, Secretary General)
We congratulate our project partner and pilot leader, the Port of Emden, for their achievement of the PERS Certificate. The Port of Emden is the second port of Niedersachsen Ports (NPorts) to have received a PERS certificate for its environmental management.
The Port Environmental Review System – PERS – is used as a standard for the verification of port-specific measures. The certificate is awarded after an extensive preparatory phase by the environmental initiative EcoPorts of the European Sea Ports Organization (ESPO). “With the PERS certificate, we are committed to the future-oriented development of our ports and to our sustainability initiative,” emphasizes Holger Banik, Managing Director of Niedersachsen Ports. In order to meet the requirements, specific environmental aspects have to be implemented in the ports and documented in a report. Every two years, EcoPorts re-examines environmental management.
“Green measures for Emden”
In the environmental report, six key environmental aspects were identified for NPorts in Emden: air pollutant emissions, noise emissions, water emissions and quality, waste management, pollution of soil and impacts on habitats and biotopes. Concrete measures are already being implemented or are being planned for all areas. For example, since April 2014, NPorts has been granting a reduction in the port shipments (Environmental Ship Index, ESI) for particularly environmentally friendly ships. In addition, the port company is committed to the environmentally sound disposal of ship waste. With a special management plan and a financial incentive to dispose of waste in ports, Niedersachsen Ports contributes to the reduction of garbage in the sea.
Green electricity and intelligent light for the port
Since January 1, 2017, NPorts has purchased 97.7 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources. This also serves customers in the port. This year an innovative lighting system is to be erected on a railway track in Emden. This is a part of the DUAL Ports project, under the North Sea Region Programme. The lighting system is not only equipped with LED lamps, it is based on an intelligent lighting concept. Sensors are used to provide the right lighting. This ensures that at any time only as much light is switched on as is required in the respective time. “This intelligent lighting system is a win-win situation. It helps us not only to reduce CO2 and light emissions to a minimum, but also to save valuable energy resources,” explains the NPADS Sustainability Manager, Dr. Matthew Wuczkowski. In addition, the port company’s fleet is gradually being converted to electromobility. In addition, the employees of NPorts contribute to a sustainable port with their own mobility. They are taking part in the action “Stadtradeln für die gute Klima”, which runs in Emden from 4 to 24 September 2017.
Sustainability in all NP ports
For the future it is planned to extend the PERS certification also to the other NPorts port locations. Wilhelmshaven was already certified in autumn 2016.
You can read the full PERS Environmental Report for the Port of Emden here.
Facts about NPorts
Niedersachsen Ports is the owner and operator of five seaports, seven island supply ports and three regional ports on the German North Sea coast. The registered office of the company is Oldenburg. With its branch offices in Brake, Cuxhaven with an outdoor station in Stade, Emden and Wilhelmshaven, Niedersachsen Ports manages the port infrastructure in the large seaports of the state of Lower Saxony. The northern branch also operates the supply ports for the East Frisian Islands. Thus, Niedersachsen Ports offers a variety of port locations from a single source.
For more information:
Niedersachsen Ports GmbH & Co. KG
Hindenburgstraße 26 – 30 | 26122 Oldenburg
T +49 (0) 441 35 020 – 310 | F +49 (0) 441 35 020 – 999
