Focus on sustainability


The Port of Antwerp wants to play a pioneering role in sustainability. MLSO, Port of Antwerp-Bruges, and Alfaport Voka, together with the entire port community, are all committed to this goal.  
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations are the basis for the guideline. We focus on five SDGS in which the port of Antwerp can excel:

  • SDG 3 - good health and well-being;
  • SDG 8 - decent work and economic growth;
  • SDG 9 - industry, innovation and infrastructure;
  • SDG 11 - sustainable cities and communities;
  • SDG 13 - climate action.

A sixth SDG supports the five SDGs listed above: SDG 17 - partnership to achieve goals.

How we deal with this in practical terms as a port community is described here.

Sustainability report

The sustainability report, published by Port of Antwerp-Bruges, MLSO and Alfaport Voka, compiles the contributions that the entire port community is making to the further development of a sustainable port. In 2021, it was converted into a fully digital trends report, highlighting the joint sustainability efforts of the port platform within the context of the SDGs. This report will be continuously updated. It not only contains the latest figures and trends, but also many inspiring projects and cases from the various companies and organisations located in the port of Antwerp.  
The new Trends Report was launched on 21 June 2021. You can read it here.

Trendrapport

Sustainable Port Award

The Sustainable Port Award is an initiative from Port of Antwerp-Bruges, Alfaport Voka, Apzi-Voka and the Scheldt Left Bank Corporation (MLSO). The award is the successor to the Sustainability Award, and the 2023 edition will be the first to be presented after the merger of the ports of Antwerp and Bruges. The professional jury and the young people's jury awards this prize to a project that is contributing to the SDGs in a remarkable way, inspiring other companies in the process. The Sustainable Port Award focuses on the following five goals: 'Good health and well-being', 'Decent work and economic growth', 'Industry, innovation and infrastructure', 'Sustainable cities and communities', and 'Climate action'.

The professional jury selected four of these nominees. Along with the jury and the young people's jury's scores, the general public chose the winner of the fourth award in an online vote: Victrol with the project 'CCUS Shipping: Transporting CO2.'
With the project, Victrol plans to transport the captured and liquefied CO2 from industrial businesses to storage sites at international seaports. To that end, the company is developing some new vessels to deploy on inland waterways. From the port of Antwerp-Bruges, for instance, the liquid CO2 then goes to ocean-going vessels or international pipelines to be permanently stored in empty gas fields, for example. In the longer term, it will also be able to be reused as a circular building block for chemical products, such as in the production of methanol.

Video: project CCUS Shipping: Transporting CO2 (dutch only)


Previous winners of the sustainability award include:

  • 2016: Ecluse
  • 2018: CMB hydrogen ship
  • 2021: BASF

Sustainability projects at the port on the left bank of the Scheldt

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