ESPO congratulates the Port of Valencia, the Port of Santander, and the Port of Castellón, for being recertified through the EcoPorts environmental management standard (PERS). The Port of Valencia has been a long-standing member of EcoPorts since 2004, and is receiving its PERS certificate for the eight time. The Port of Santander has been a member since 2012 and is receiving its PERS certificate for the third time. On the other hand, the Port of Castellón, has been a member since 2011 and is receiving its PERS certification for the ninth time.

Picture, Port of Valencia: Mar Chao – President.

Isabelle Ryckbost, ESPO Secretary General, commented: “I would like to congratulate the three Spanish ports on their recertification. The ports of Valencia, Santander and Castellón each have different profiles and have different roles, but each of them is demonstrating how important it is to be transparent about environmental performance. This again shows that measuring and monitoring environmental performance is high on the agenda of many ports in Europe, whatever their size or profile”

Picture from left to right, Port of Santander Authority: Santiago Díaz – Director, Susana Rubio – Environmental Officer, and César Díaz Maza – President.

Tim Verhoeven, ESPO Senior Policy Advisor and EcoPorts Coordinator, said: “We are highly impressed by the approach taken by Spanish ports regarding their environmental performance. It is clear that great importance is placed on the EcoPorts network, and ESPO is grateful for their valuable contribution. Spanish ports remain, by far, the most significant contributors to our network.”

Picture from left to right, Port of Castellon: Balma Godes Pavón – Environmental Technician, Manuel José García Navarro – CEO, Rubén Ibáñez Bordonau – President, María José Rubio Felip – Head of the Department for Planning, European Policies and Innovation, and Inés López Arias – Environmental Manager.

PERS (Port Environmental Review System) is the only port-specific environmental standard. The last five years have seen important increases in its recognition and membership, with 83 ports from 25 countries currently counting themselves as part of the EcoPorts Network, and 29 ports holding PERS certification. Compliance with the EcoPorts’ PERS standard is independently assessed by LRQA Nederland B.V. and the certificate has a validity of two years. EcoPorts’ PERS is revised after the 2-year period, ensuring ports continuously meet the requirements.
Source: ESPO