To manage resources sustainably and foster the circular economy

HAROPA PORT is intent on encouraging the emergence of local regions that are exemplary in terms of the circular economy. Its objective is to give priority to sustainable modes of consumption and production. This presupposes the conversion of what is waste for some into resources for others, the pooling of certain services for the benefit of some or all port actors and to work collectively to promote the most inspirational and innovative projects.

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Objective no. 1: to consume sustainably and to facilitate positive uses for waste

HAROPA PORT intends to institute a regional dynamic in favour of positive uses for waste and to create value- and job-creating activity in ports by setting up sectors that provide complete coverage from waste collection to waste use. It also intends to pursue its approach based on responsible purchasing to ensure more virtuous procurement.

Making good use of dredged material

Positive uses for dredged materials are a major topic for the ports along the Seine Axis. HAROPA PORT | Rouen is working with the construction industry to replace the alluvial aggregates used in concrete production by dredged material and is using that same material to fill a waterlogged quarry for the purposes of ecological redevelopment (creation of wetlands at Yville-sur-Seine and Anneville Ambourville). 
The port is also part of SEDINNOVE, a sector research and development project which in 2019 won the call for declarations of interest in “a circular economy in Normandy”. 
The port of Le Havre has undertaken a similar approach with SEDIBRIC the purpose of which is to convert dredged material into bricks and tiles.  

... and waste

Such is the purpose of the plan for a methanisation plant at Gennevilliers port for the conversion of food waste from the Paris area into gas for heating and bus fuel. Scheduled to come on stream in 2025, this site will recycle 50,000 tonnes of waste to produce 30,000 MWh of biomethane (as well as 43,000 tonnes of digestate for agricultural use).

Objective no. 2: to foster and assist the focus on industrial and regional ecology 

HAROPA PORT encourages industrial and regional ecology in its interaction with port actors along the Seine Axis. Its objectives: to bring these actors together, to apply shared, pooled measures to optimise resource use in the region and to foster synergy between firms in the context of plans for new operations.

Bringing the Seine axis together

HAROPA PORT is a founding member of, and a contributor to the non-profit industrial associations Synerzip-LH, Incase in Port-Jérôme and Upside Boucles de Rouen. These organisations focus on control of industrial risk and are driving the movement towards industrial and regional ecology. This support is bringing the Seine Axis together around a common objective: the decarbonisation of port industrial areas and adaptation to climate change. This collaborative effort helps define the local trajectory towards decarbonisation, implement identified synergies and create the conditions for replication and emulation between actors.
For example, HAROPA PORT assists the three port industrial areas in their responses to the calls for project proposals issued by ADEME, the French energy agency, to encourage the development of low-carbon industrial zones (ZIBaC)

Reconciling sustainable development with economic activity

Since 1977 HAROPA PORT | Le Havre has been home to Sedibex, one of Europe’s biggest waste treatment and recycling plants. In 2022, this facility, which uses waste for a buried steam utility network, officially opened a 3.2km extension to provide steam to three additional industrial sites. This means that 265,000 tonnes of steam will be put to good use by eight manufacturing sites, equivalent to the annual energy consumption of the town of Fécamp. Sedibex is a prime example of the application of collective intelligence on the port area.

HAROPA PORT, an actor in environmental excellence

  •  Le Havre: ISO 14001 certification awarded in October 2021 for its environmental management (across all of its activities). Renewed in May 2022,
  •  Rouen: ISO 14001 certification granted in 2017 and renewed in April 2021 for four flagship activities: transportation of dredged material as applied to the Port-Jérôme facility, use of dredged material to fill gravel pits, the port operation process as applied to the Radicatel terminal, and the Port Environment department,
  •  Paris: ISO 14001 certification in 2013, renewed in 2022 and valid until 2025 following an audit to monitor implementation of the standard. This relates to:
    •  the creation of new ports, as applied to the project for the PSMO  platform (Western Metropolitan Seine Port),
    •  facility operations, as applied to the port of Gennevilliers.

More information about certification.