Port Authority of Valencia, Annual Tracking of Energy, Water and Waste under EMAS
The Port Authority of Valencia (PAV) manages the ports of Valencia, Sagunto and Gandia. It has held ISO 14001 certification since 2006. Since 15 January 2008 it has been registered under the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). It obtained ISO 50001 energy management certification for the port of Valencia in 2016 and is also certified under the port sector's PERS standard (Port Authority of Valencia, 2024). Each year the PAV publishes an environmental statement that reports its own use of energy and water and the waste it generates (Port Authority of Valencia, n.d.). The figures cover the Port Authority's own activities, including its buildings and the roads within the port premises. Companies operating on port land manage their own waste and are treated as indirect aspects, so the figures do not measure tenant or terminal operations (Port Authority of Valencia, 2024).
Approach
Review environmental aspects every year. The PAV identifies direct and indirect environmental aspects in normal and abnormal operating conditions. It rates each aspect by how often it occurs and how severe it is. The list is reviewed every year (Port Authority of Valencia, 2024).
Record water and electricity use. Water use is recorded as the consumption registered in buildings and for irrigation. Electricity use covers buildings and roads within the port premises (Port Authority of Valencia, 2024).
Track own waste by type. The PAV is directly responsible for waste from its own activity and uses authorised transporters and managers. It reports hazardous and non-hazardous waste separately (Port Authority of Valencia, 2024).
Measure ship waste received. The statement also reports the volumes of ship-generated oily waste (MARPOL Annex I) and garbage (MARPOL Annex V) collected at the port (Port Authority of Valencia, 2024).
Count on-site solar output. Output from the PAV's photovoltaic installations is measured and reported alongside consumption (Port Authority of Valencia, 2024).
Results
In 2024 the PAV used 5,783,779 kWh of electricity, 4% less than in 2023. Reported electricity use fell from 7,564 MWh in 2021 to 5,784 MWh in 2024. Water use was 25,838 m3, a decrease of about 32% on the previous year. The PAV generated 3.93 t of hazardous waste and 14.40 t of non-hazardous waste. The port collected 61,008.14 m3 of MARPOL I and 39,734.26 m3 of MARPOL V waste. Solar installations generated 3,296,735 kWh, and the PAV expects about 18% of current power use at its three ports to come from self-consumption (Port Authority of Valencia, 2024). Environmental reports are published on the port's website for each year back to 2008 (Port Authority of Valencia, n.d.).
Transferability
DMC port authorities can start with the resources they control directly: metered electricity and water in their own buildings and roads, and the waste their own activities produce. A short list of indicators, reported every year in the same units, makes trends visible. Adding ship waste volumes received shows how much the port handles for its users. A yearly review of environmental aspects helps decide which indicators to add next. Publishing the figures, even in a simple annual report, builds a record that auditors and lenders can check.
Sources
All information used for this case study was based on publicly available resources.