CMP strives to continuously improve its record on safety, health and the environment, with the aim of contributing to long-term sustainable development. The company’s environmental activities focus partly on the environmental impact of visiting ships and partly on loading, unloading, storage and transports in port areas.
CMP’s environmental efforts target areas like waste management, emissions, energy use and noise pollution. The activities are based on the company’s environmental policy and on the following general long-term environmental goals:
- exhaust emissions from work machinery used in goods handling
- Reduce diesel consumption for work machinery in relation to the volume of handled goods
- Continuously cut emissions of oil products to water and land from work machinery and handling equipment
CMP has been certified under the ISO 14001 environmental management standard since 2004. The company’s environmental activities are coordinated centrally in a process aimed at defining shared goals, strategies and action plans. Based on these guidelines, each business area then draws up a set of individual targets, which are adjusted to the environmental impact of each operation. The business areas are also responsible for continuous improvements and investments as well as for reporting implemented measures and results to the company’s environmental coordinator.
Environmental activities in practice
The practical efforts taken to realise the company’s general environmental goals can be summarised as follows:
- Reduced emissions to air, land and water
- installation of particle filters in work machines to cut emissions and reduce noise
- environmental classification of company vehicles
- management of surface water, greywater and sewage in port areas
- planting of trees of the genus Salix (willows, sallows and osiers), which purify groundwater, in oil ports and other areas
- less and more efficient transports in connection with loading and unloading
- Lower diesel and energy consumption
- new operations agreement with a partner to reduce gas consumption
- lower diesel consumption in work machinery per tonne of handled goods, partly thanks to the Eco Drive initiative
- new technology and procedures in heating, ventilation and lighting to reduce power consumption
CMP has also streamlined its waste management activities in the ports. There are designated recycling points on the quays where ships can deposit sorted waste for recycling. Technical solutions and procedures have been established for managing greywater from ships, and chemical products and hazardous waste are sealed off and protected at CMP’s facilities in Copenhagen and Malmö.
Focus areas in 2009
In 2009 CMP Malmö received an environmental permit for port activities under the Swedish Environmental Code. The permit, which allows the company to increase its volume to up to 6,000 vessels per year, is contingent on fulfilment of about 30 environmental criteria and investing activities. Some of these refer to evaluation criteria, which means that CMP will evaluate a number of environmental issues together with the environmental regulator in order to improve standards for the future. These measurement and evaluation activities will be implemented and reported to the local county administration in 2010. In 2009 the company also performed a renewal audit for its ISO 14001 certification. The results were very good, with only four minor nonconformities. In December, after all identified nonconformities had been addressed, CMP’s ISO 9001/14001 certification was renewed.
Another new development is that the company’s Eco Drive 2009 initiative has been expanded to include CMP’s Copenhagen facilities. Eco Drive, which has already been implemented in Malmö, is a customised training programme for operators of trucks, terminal tractors and other work machines. The goal is to cut diesel consumption through fuel-efficient driving. So far, Eco Drive has cut fuel use in CMP by 10–15 per cent, which has yielded economic benefits as well as reducing the impact on the environment. For its efforts in this area CMP received the Big Logistics and Transport Prize in the Environmental Initiative of the Year category in 2009.
In 2009 CMP continued its efforts to install particle filters in its work machines. The filters reduce emissions as well as noise and thus help to create a better work environment. In connection with the building of the North Port some 130,000 cubic metres of sediment have been dredged and moved by barge to the nearby Kockumsrännan channel. This excavated channel in the port of Malmö, which will now no longer be used by ships, has thus been filled in. With its original depth restored, it will provide a good environment for marine biotopes.
New port – smaller impact
In spring 2009 work commenced on the new North Port in Malmö, where CMP will establish a new transport and logistics centre in partnership with the City of Malmö and with support from the EU. In 2011 CMP’s ro-ro and container handling activities will be transferred to the new port, which will reduce the company’s and the transport industry’s environmental impact. Once then new ro-ro terminal is up and running, the turnaround time, i.e. the time that a ship remains in port, will be cut by 30–40 minutes compared with today. This will reduce the environmental impact from noise and emissions. Another benefit is that ships will dock further away from Malmö’s city centre. The new ro-ro terminal will also be prepared for installation of power connections. With installed power connections, ships will no longer need to have their generators running to provide electricity while in port, which will also reduce emissions.
The new road network around the North Port will also remove many lorry transports from Malmö’s inner city. Lorries will be able to reach the ring roads faster, reducing the impact on the local environment. The driving time for lorries from the port to the ring roads will be cut by about 15 minutes in either direction, which will reduce total driving times by 50,000 to 100,000 hours per year.