Global port employees join green initiative

Thousands of port employees around the world have contributed their time and effort to a joint environmental initiative launched by five of the world’s largest port operators.

The marine terminal operators include DP World, Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH), APM Terminals, PSA International and Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG). They are joined by the Port of Rotterdam Authority (PRA).

The week-long campaign from 14 to 21 September entailed joint activities to pioneer a green drive across operations worldwide, while bringing sustainable change to the communities they impact.

In unifying their global resources to realise environmental benefits, the port operators developed various initiatives around three main themes: reuse and recycle, climate change and the community, said a statement.

The campaign also identified local partners in the effort to improve the environment, while creating and upgrading local green spaces, launching educational programs and community engagement.

In line with DP World’s strategy of adopting a local approach to the implementation of its global environmental initiatives, 38 of its marine terminals across 29 countries organised activities tailored to the needs of the communities they impact. Employees across the world took part in a wide range of events from a cycling marathon, public square beautification and tree planting in Sokhna (Egypt) and Karachi (Pakistan), alongside beach clean-up drives in Chennai (India), a ‘Green Race’ in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and the recycling of old drums and tyres into planter pots in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia).

HPH business units around the world organised a wide variety of Go Green activities with a particular focus on tree planting. Many of the events were designed to benefit the local communities in which HPH operates in a number of ways.

APM Terminals celebrated Go Green in 26 countries by planting 1,793 trees and inviting more than 4,000 students from local communities to learn about environmental themes. Employees, their families and members of local communities managed to collect 26,874 kg of waste during the campaign week, through cleaning local beaches, forests and around facilities.

During the joint campaign, PSA business units around the world organised a multitude of projects to beautify the environment, such as planting trees and corals, cleaning up terminals, offices, local parks and beaches, and the creation of green spaces. Other activities included recycling competitions, conducting walks to appreciate the beauty of nature, and energy-saving seminars and talks at the workplace.

Similarly, SIPG employees took active part in the week-long campaign. They engaged in a series of activities to promote environmental protection philosophy, such as Lantern Riddle Competition, Eco-car Test Drive and ‘Go Green’ Knowledge Contest.

Moreover, approximately 30 volunteers from HPH, Rotterdam World Gateway (DP World), APM Terminals Rotterdam and Port of Rotterdam helped www.recycledpark.com with collecting floating plastic litter from the New Meuse river on different locations in the City Centre of Rotterdam, as part of the global ‘Go Green’ campaign. The plastics are recycled to give new value to the river. From the plastics floating platforms will be constructed for a new green environment; a floating park.

DP World Chairman Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem said: “The huge response to the campaign from our global family underlines a firm commitment to the environment by the participants. Such initiatives help change behaviours and increase engagement in caring for the surroundings in which people live. One of our aims is to bring long term sustainable benefits to the communities where we operate and when local people and employees get involved in activities such as this then everyone benefits.”