Developing a Sustainability Audit Template for Small Inland Port Facilities

Many port facilities in the US and Europe have ramped up efforts to improve the sustainability of their operations over the past 20 years. Because of their size and access to financial capital, coastal ports have been more aggressive in pursuing sustainable initiatives than inland ports. This is especially true in the US. Often, the ports that serve inland waterways do not operate on the same scale as coastal ports. Thus, given smaller budgets, inland ports cannot implement sustainability initiatives with the same aggressiveness or scope as coastal facilities. This paper describes a port sustainability audit template that smaller inland ports can use to assess the sustainability of their current operations. In completing this audit, port operators will gain a clearer picture of what areas their facilities excel in with respect to sustainability and where room for improvement exists. The objective of this audit template is not to encourage inland ports to replicate the efforts of larger operations with greater financial resources. Instead, the template underlines policies and practices that smaller ports can affordably implement. In targeting the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainability, the template lets port operators holistically evaluate their facilities’ performance and determine what new sustainability initiatives will yield the most significant short- and long-term financial yields.