BEIJING: Container terminals in China looking to improve their environmental performance need look no further than Shekou Container Terminals.
The terminal operator has won recognition for cutting carbon emissions, saving energy, and reducing waste through a strategy that also targets high productivity and quality service.
At the 11th China Freight Industry Awards held in January, SCT was ranked among the top 10 container terminals for service and as the ‘best low carbon container terminal.’
Its location in the Pearl River Delta economic zone is a further factor in the terminal’s success. “SCT is located at the estuary of the east coast of the Pearl River,” said Oscar Wang, SCT’s assistant general manager. “Benefiting from its unique location, it has become the marine gateway from the PRD area to the world. PRD’s foreign trade volume accounts for one third of the whole nation’s.”
The delta is now home to some of the world’s biggest port operators and investors, located at ports of various sizes in a region dominated by Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen.
Amid rising competition from other operators in the PRD, SCT is looking for an edge through a strategy that incorporates green initiatives.
“The terminal prides itself on many firsts. It is the first professional container terminal in Shenzhen and it is also one of the green terminal pioneers,” said Wang.
SCT is among the first operators in mainland China to sustainably develop a low-carbon terminal through adopting ISO 14001 for terminal management and initiating technical innovations to reduce emissions and energy consumption.
This pioneering green effort paid off in February 2012 with SCT’s official appointment as a low-carbon demonstration terminal by China’s ministry of transport.
