Inventory of waste streams in an industrial port and planning for a port waste management system as per ISO14001

The Port Louis Harbour is the sole port in Mauritius and handles 99% of cargo entering the island. The port area is subject to a wide range of port installations handling, processing and storing a wide range of cargo ranging from petroleum products, coal, cement, edible oil, heavy oil, molasses, wheat, bitumen to fertiliser manufacturing. This study integrated procedures of ISO14001 and was carried out in the context of the UNEP GEF WIO–Lab Solid Wastes Demo Project during the period April 2009 to May 2010. An inventory of the wastes generation and flow from ships and within the industrial port area was conducted, and on basis of the results obtained, an environmental pollution prevention and protection program was developed to eventually assist in the setting up of a Port Waste Management System (PWMS) at the Port Louis Harbour. The PWMS identified the significant environmental aspects and impacts, structure of the organisation, distribution of responsibilities, needs for training, objectives and targets as well as the operational control measures. At the end of the study, suggestions on how to improve the port’s environmental performance with regards to waste management were recommended.