We help the port of Bilbao to become the first port in the world to obtain an environmental declaration certificate

The Port of Bilbao is the world's first port to obtain an Environmental Product Declaration certificate. An EPD provides quantified and verifiable information on the environmental performance of a product, material or service. These tools are used to assess the environmental impact throughout the life-cycle of products and to establish improvement actions.

In obtaining the Port of Bilbao International EPD certificate, around fifty companies from the port community participated with our experience and guidance.

The study began in 2016, analysing the data for the whole of 2015. Due to the complexity of the project, the high number of companies involved and the significant amount of data analysed the study was completed in 2018 and the certificate has been granted in 2019.

The report includes processes such as fuel production; raw materials; auxiliary materials; water used; construction of the port, buildings, warehouses and lighthouses; dredging; machinery, building and vehicle maintenance; fuel consumption in machinery and boilers; electricity consumption; staff transportation or waste collection and treatment.

The assessment carried out identified that the main impacts were associated with waste from construction materials as well as fuel and electricity consumption. This appraisal has enabled the Port of Bilbao to detect areas for improvement and to define a strategy to implement environmental impact reduction measures, such as the use of renewable energy sources, the renewal of the fleet of vehicles (replacement with less pollutant vehicles), the re-use of construction materials or the reduction of the sea discharge points, among others.