Use of resources and circular economy
Waste
HHLA’s efforts to conserve resources are demonstrated by its waste management system and the use of recycled building materials for the maintenance of its terminal areas. With regard to waste management, HHLA reduces refuse and separates rubbish for recycling wherever possible so that reusable waste can be fed back into the resource cycle. Due to the fluctuation in throughput volumes at the various HHLA terminals, the quantities of each waste type can vary widely from one year to the next.
The total amount of waste recorded at the German sites decreased by 9.1 % to 7,769 tonnes in the reporting period (previous year: 8,544 tonnes). HHLA distinguishes between non-hazardous and hazardous waste. The decrease in 2024 was mainly due to a lower volume of non-hazardous waste (largely fruit waste). For reasons of comparability with previous years, the volumes stated refer to operations (excluding construction measures and equipment decommissioning).
Non-hazardous waste
Fruit waste, which accounted for the largest percentage of waste during the reporting period at 41.8 %, decreased year on year by 15.1 % to 3,249 tonnes (previous year: 3,827 tonnes). This type of waste includes fruit – such as bananas or pineapple – no longer suitable for consumption or processing. HHLA has absolutely no influence on the quantity of such waste, as it relates to imports that are already unfit for sale when they arrive in Hamburg and have to be disposed of. Most of this waste, 3,152 tonnes (previous year: 2,561 tonnes), was used by an external biogas plant in order to generate electricity. In the reporting period, 627,984 kWh of electricity were produced without CO2 in this way.
Mixed metals were the second largest category of waste in 2024. This includes items such as steel cables from container gantry cranes or yard cranes that are no longer fit for use. This type of waste is fully recycled. The volume decreased by 2.9 % to 807 tonnes during the reporting period (previous year: 831 tonnes).
Packaging made from paper, cardboard and mixed paper was the third-largest type of waste by volume. Its volume rose by 10.8 % to 497 tonnes (previous year: 449 tonnes). The fourth-largest waste type by volume was sludge from oil/water separators, which is classified as hazardous waste.
Waste volume
in thousand tonnes
Commercial waste for pretreatment and mixed packaging was the fifth-largest type of waste, accounting for a volume of 401 tonnes (previous year: 416 tonnes). This figure was thus 3.8 % down on the previous year. This type of waste comprises regular household waste and commercial waste similar to household waste.
Sludge from the company’s own grease separators was the sixth-largest type of waste. This figure decreased by 1.8 % in 2024 to 336 tonnes (previous year: 342 tonnes).
The seventh-largest type of waste overall was residual waste, whose volume rose by 14.6 % to 277 tonnes in the reporting period (previous year: 242 tonnes).
The eighth-largest type of waste comprises scrap wood and building timber with an increase of 22.7 %, corresponding to 252 tonnes (previous year: 205 tonnes).
Hazardous waste
The largest waste type by volume classified as hazardous was sludge from oil/water separators. This figure decreased by 5.5 % to 426 tonnes (previous year: 450 tonnes). This type of waste primarily results from the cleaning of straddle carriers and other large equipment with pressure washers and is the fourth-largest waste category overall. The other emulsions waste category resulting, for example, from removing oil spills, decreased by 32.6 % to 187 tonnes (previous year: 278 tonnes). This type of waste represents the ninth-largest waste category overall.
Recycling
After energy – and excluding investments in equipment and machinery – construction materials are the largest direct material input at HHLA. Recycled building materials are also used to maintain existing terminal areas and to improve other existing areas. This minimises the consumption of resources and simultaneously reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
The volume of recycled building materials used at the Hamburg terminals decreased year-on-year by 56.7 % to 21,340 tonnes (previous year: 49,259 tonnes). This decrease is due to the completion of construction on storage blocks 25-27 at CTB and the implementation of less material-intensive resurfacing work in the reporting period.
The renovation of the future AGV areas at CTB and other resurfacing projects accounted for the use of 11,165 tonnes of recycled asphalt. This is the most commonly used recycled material, accounting for 52.3 % of recycled construction material. At 22 %, or 4,700 tonnes, the use of concrete-mineral aggregate accounted for the second-largest proportion of recycled building materials used. This was used for the completion of the storage blocks at CTB. With a share of 14.1 % and a material input of 3,000 tonnes, electric furnace slag was used for resurfacing and also for the preparation of the AGV areas at CTB. Additionally, 2,475 tonnes (11.6 %) of cement-bound slag from waste incineration was used for the storage blocks.
The use of retreaded tyres for container handling equipment and container chassis, or the on-site cleaning and reuse of used oils, also improves the utilisation of resources. These methods are utilised in various areas.