Management of impacts, risks and opportunities

Strategic framework

The responsible use of resources in HHLA’s activities is an important lever in environmental protection and climate change mitigation. This is why environmental protection and resource conservation are firmly established as one of the nine Group-wide action areas as part of HHLA’s sustainability strategy “Balanced Logistics”. Corporate and sustainability strategy

HHLA is explicitly committed to reducing its environmental impact across all segments at its own locations, as well as to conserving natural resources. HHLA's use of resources is characterised primarily by the use of large-scale equipment (e.g. automated stacking cranes, rail gantry cranes, ship-to-shore cranes, straddle carriers, reach stackers, automated guided vehicles, wagons or locomotives). This leads to a substantial use of resources over short periods of time in specific locations. These resources remain tied up due to what are, in some cases, long equipment service lives. This large-scale equipment tends to comprise a very high proportion of steel (usually more than 90%) and other metals, which are already easy to recycle. For this reason, no further procurement requirements related to the use of raw materials are imposed. Procurement guidelines are currently under review and realignment is being explored. At the same time, servicing and maintaining equipment is a top priority for HHLA, meaning that what are already long equipment service lives are extended and the use of, and need for, virgin resources is avoided without involving the use of secondary raw materials.

HHLA’s subsidiaries manage the implementation of resource conservation independently in operational terms, supported by the framework of their individual business activities and the relevant local/European legislation. At the Group level, the Chief Executive Officer is responsible for the sustainability strategy. Corporate management/Executive Board declaration

Actions

In order to implement resource conservation within its own activities using a structured, targeted approach, the HHLA operating companies in all segments that have significant resource inflows and outflows are certified in line with ISO 14001 (environmental management). This certification programme helps companies to continuously improve their environmental performance. Environmental performance is reviewed externally in annual monitoring audits and during recertification audits every three years. The individual HHLA companies are responsible for maintaining their own certifications.

Companies holding this certification include the HHLA terminals in Hamburg, including their workshops, DYKO Rail Repair Shop (METRANS subsidiary for rail vehicle repairs) and the foreign multi-purpose terminals Container Terminal Odessa (CTO) and HHLA TK Estonia (TKE).

Targets

Conserving resources and using them efficiently requires long-term, continuous commitment in order to be effective. As a result, HHLA has voluntarily set itself the annual objective of maintaining the ISO 14001 certifications and having new companies certified as needed. The aim is to bolster the circular economy and minimise the resource use to the greatest extent possible within the context of HHLA’s business model, especially by increasing the use of circular and renewable materials. As the main material (steel) used in the large-scale equipment purchased is easy to recycle, no reference to procurement was made when setting the target.

The status of the certifications is queried and evaluated centrally once a year. In the reporting period, 100% of the 24 certified companies maintained their ISO 14001 certification. These included:

Resource inflows

By virtue of its business model, resource inflows are particularly important for HHLA in connection with the vehicles and equipment required for its logistics services, as well as the space needed for goods handling and storage. Incoming resources in the Port Logistics subgroup consist mainly of large-scale equipment and construction materials for surfacing and maintenance. There is also a small amount of consumables and supplies such as spare parts, engine oil and refrigerants, which are mainly used in workshops.