The port of Piraeus pioneer in the principles of environmental sustainability

Piraeus, February 22nd 2019

PRESS RELEASE

The port of Piraeus pioneer in the principles of environmental sustainability

The concept of «environmental sustainability» is widespread and is being implemented with the main objective of maintaining change in a balance, where the exploitation of resources, the investment direction, the technological development orientation and institutional changes are all harmoniously developed and respect both human needs and the environment. In this context, the port of Piraeus, as one of the largest developing companies at European level implements the principles of sustainability in all its development and operation steps with main objective of protecting the environment of an urban network, such as Piraeus, and the prosperity of the local community.

The environmental management implemented by PPA S.A. for all its activities has been certified since 2004, according to the European System PERS of the European Sea Ports Organization ESPO. The port of Piraeus has proven its environmental sensitivity for years being a recognizable member of Ecoports Network since 2011, a network of European ports that have been evaluated for their environmental performance. According to the above assessments, the port of Piraeus has elaborated and implemented environmental policy while being in a continuous process of identifying the environmental aspects related to its port activities and pursuing the continuous improvement of its environmental performance according to European and international standards.

The environmental policy of PPA S.A. includes a number of priorities and corresponding measures and applications focusing on the efficient management of waste generated by port facilities and ships and the detailed monitoring of noise, water and air quality, energy efficiency and energy savings through technological innovations. The PPA Directorate of Environment, in close collaboration with external experts and laboratories of the National Technical University of Athens, University of Piraeus and Cardiff University, implements specific programs for the monitoring, measurement and analysis of environmental indicators, the results of which are a basis for identifying best practices and optimized solutions.

In addition to the above existing practices, the port of Piraeus has a dynamic place in the development of new technologies and identification of strategic environmental planning at European level through its participation in a number of initiatives and projects, taking always into consideration the EU Energy Strategy, which targets at the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, improvement of energy efficiency and increase of renewable energy consumption. Based on its identified environmental priorities at operational level, the port focuses currently on identifying and implementing an Environmental Action Plan for developing a detailed calculation system of carbon footprint and implementing an efficient energy management system. The Action plan aims among others at a) the examination of appropriate measures to reduce carbon footprint through detailed evaluation and b) the improvement of the energy efficiency of the port through energy mapping and energy consumption assessment.
The Action Plan is developed within the SUPAIR – Sustainable Ports in the Adriatic-Ionian Region project, an Interreg ADRION co-funded project. The 24-month project (January 2018 - December 2019) with a budget of more than 1 million euros aims to develop and implement Action Plans for the reduction of carbon emissions in some Adriatic-Ionian European ports *, as well as in the Port of Piraeus.

In more details, the SUPAIR responding to the regional challenge of the Adriatic-Ionian strategy aims at the reduction of the environmental impact of shipping and port processes with a comprehensive and transnational approach. The main objectives of the project are: 1) enhancing the capacity of port authorities in designing and implementing low carbon and sustainable multimodal transport, 2) strengthening the roles of the main political, technical and commercial sectors in decision-making process, 3) creating an Adriatic-Ionian Cooperation Network of Green Ports, characterized by low carbon emissions, which is expected to identify systematically environmental solutions with the aim of developing green, safer and more efficient transport systems.

The Action Plans of the seven ports follow a common development methodology developed by the International University of Venice (VIU) with the cooperation of all project partners, taking into consideration the real needs and priorities of each organization.

The final project results and the developed Action Plans of the participating ports will be presented during the Mutual Learning Workshop that will be hosted by Area Science Park (Trieste – Italy) in November 2019. During this event the Transnational Cooperation Network of Adriatic-Ionian Green Ports will be formally established and be promoted to other interested ports about SUPAIR approach.