Abstract
Abstract Paper aims This paper aims to investigate which sustainability practices are being applied in port terminals in Brazil and to identify the driving forces and obstacles to the implementation of these practices. Originality The research contributes to fill gaps that still remain in the literature, such as the need to identify and analyze sustainability requirements in the port industry in a more tangible way, bringing new evidence to a better understanding of how the port industry perceives and addresses sustainability issues. Research method The paper presents an in-depth multiple case study in the five largest terminals in Brazil, which correspond to approximately 60% of the Brazilian handling of containers. Main findings The results present evidence of the evolution of the commitment to environmental preservation and the progressive dissemination of sustainability practices. The main difficulties are the high costs and lack of support from the port authority to encourage the implementation of some practices. Implications for theory and practice This study aimed to disclose sustainability practices adopted at container terminals in Brazil, as well as provide some content, both for academia and companies, that may assist in developing new research on this theme and implementing these practices in other organizations.
Highlights
Maritime transport and ports are essential components of international trade
Paper aims: This paper aims to investigate which sustainability practices are being applied in port terminals in Brazil and to identify the driving forces and obstacles to the implementation of these practices
To provide a general view of the results collected, it is possible to observe that Figure 3 presents the adoption of sustainability practices at the terminals by operation area, according to the classification by Yang (2015)
Summary
Maritime transport and ports are essential components of international trade. Maritime transport represents one of the largest and most complex control and regulation operations of water and air pollution sources in the world, and ports are important economic, industrial and logistics centers, which contribute significantly to the pollution of coastal urban zones (Sislian et al, 2016). Container terminals play an important role in the global supply chain and provide an interface between maritime and land transport (Lu et al, 2016b). The global handling of container terminals grew by 137% from 2008 to 2017, reaching approximately 700 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) due to the development of international trade (International Association of Ports and Harbors, 2016). The growth in container capacity has raised concerns about the environmental impact that these operations may cause, including noise, air pollution, residues and energy demand. Container terminal operators have started setting wider sustainability policies that go beyond environmental management and focus on understanding the relations among economy, society, environment and fair distribution of resources and opportunities (Lu et al, 2016b)
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