In 2007, as part of its commitment
to environmental conservation,
APM TERMINALS, S.A. began the
implementation of an Environmental
Management System, in accordance
with the UNE-EN ISO 14001 standard,
which has allowed it to identify the most
important environmental issues relevant
to the company and to put in place control
procedures to avoid, or reduce to a minimum,
the impact that its activity could have on the
environment.
In order to ensure the correct development
of the system, a work team comprising
members of the technical staff of the
Services Division’s Consulting Department
and staff members from APM TERMINALS,
S.A.’s Environment Department in the
terminal was set up.
The project began with an environmental
analysis to identify all the environmental
legal requirements applicable to the activities
carried out in the Algeciras terminal:
- Area for storage of containers.
- Vehicle repair workshop.
- Cleaning area.
- Additional installations:
- IMO Tent.
- Fuel storage.
- Area for electrical transformers.
- Warehouse for storage of goods.
- Medical service.
Once these requirements were identified, a
filing system was put in place for environmental
records and new responsibilities were defined
on the basis of these in order to guarantee
compliance with all the requirements.
Subsequently, the documentation for the
management system was written, including
the procedures established in accordance
with the standard, the technical instructions
and the formats.
The most important aspects of the environmental
management system are as follows:
- Identification and assessment of
environmental issues: This process
has permitted the identification and assessment of the direct and indirect
environmental issues which have or could
have a positive or negative impact on the
environment.
The environmental issues which are taken
into account in the container terminal can
arise from:
- The consumption of resources: water,
energy, fuel, etc.
- The emission and immission of
pollutants, noise and vibrations.
- Water spillages from processing,
sanitary water or accidental spillages.
- The production of non-hazardous and
hazardous waste.
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All the issues identified as significant have an
associated operational control procedure:
- Waste management: Stipulates the
separation of assimilable waste into urban
waste and waste to be removed by an
agent, in addition to the correct storage
and labelling of hazardous waste, which
is generated mainly in the maintenance
area, and its subsequent removal by an
authorised agent.
- Wastewater management: In addition to
sanitary water and rainwater, the most
significant volume of wastewater generated
by the container terminal comes from the
cleaning of vehicles and the maintenance
workshop. APM TERMINALS, S.A. has
three hydrocarbon separators for treating
this water before it is channelled into the
municipal wastewater network.
Moreover, the container terminal has a
specific location (the IMO tent) where the
containers which have been damaged and
where goods have spilled out are taken, so
that the spill does not reach the rainwater
drainage network.
- Resource management: Describes the
guidelines established for the control of
resources (water, electricity, fuel, etc.)
with the aim of minimising consumption.
Moreover, a Good Environmental Practice
Guide has been created so that the
staff working in the terminal is aware
of the actions that they should take in
order to minimise consumption of these
resources.
- Preparation and response to emergencies:Describes the system set up for identifying
potential emergency situations and
responding to these, and for preventing
and reducing the resulting impact on the
environment.
To finalise the implementation of the
management system, all the documentation
of the system will be communicated to the
workers in the terminal and training sessions
will be held. The aim of this measure is to
facilitate the integration and participation
of the workers in improving environmental
management and to increase their motivation
to reach the shared goal of environmental
conservation.
Carlota Pascual Escofet
Consulting and Projects Manager |