Associated British Ports (ABP), the UK’s leading and best-connected port operator, has won the prestigious ‘Environment’ category at the 2020 Heavy Lift Awards, recognising its investments in sustainability within the day-to-day running of operations and the long-term strategy of the organisation.

In its submission, ABP demonstrated its approach to minimising operational impact on the environment. It also highlighted efforts and investments over the past years, which have resulted in significant improvements in ABP’s environmental performance and progress against the UN Sustainable Development Goals. ABP was also able to demonstrate its support for sustainable supply chains over many years.

As part of its renewables journey so far, ABP has celebrated many achievements, including the fact that 17 out of ABP’s 21 ports have renewable energy generation, providing clean power for the company and its customers.

The Heavy Lift Awards judges, said: “ABP’s entry displayed the biggest impact when considering the size and breadth of their environmental initiatives.”

In addition, the awards panel, commented: “ABP’s entry demonstrated a long-term company commitment not only to green energy, but also to air quality improvement and waste reduction.”

In 2019, ABP generated 22 GWh of green electricity, which is 17% more than the previous year. 18.8% of the electricity ABP used in 2019 was from on-site renewables. 2.4GWh of ABP generated renewable electricity was used by its customers and 7.2GWh was exported to the UK grid. Since 2014, ABP has reduced its absolute GHG emissions by 27%.

Alan Tinline, ABP Head of Environment, said: “We are grateful to have been chosen out of a very impressive shortlist of great businesses all making strides to improve the sustainability of heavy lift logistics, which is such a critical area for sustainable growth globally.

“This wouldn’t have been possible without our dedicated network of environmental teams across the company, who continue to work hard to improve our environmental performance.”