Environment
Respect for community and our shared environment alongside beautiful Corio Bay drives us to preserve and share our natural resources, biodiversity and cultural heritage.
The GeelongPort environment strategy lays the foundation for our approach to sustainability and outlines four key focus areas to guide our approach:
Minimising resource use
Eliminating waste and emissions
Nurturing our port land
Supporting an appealing and healthy Corio Bay and environs
These focus areas reflect our operational impact profile, our professional influencing potential and the industries and community we support.
The key environmental material issues we focus on are air pollution, energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions and contaminated land management. These are the environmental topics of most concern to our stakeholders, and we have structured our approach and focus based on this feedback.
To ensure we effectively manage our impacts on these material topics, we track key metrics and actively engage with internal and external stakeholders for their input on the effectiveness of those actions.
Our environmental policy can be found publicly on our website: Environment Policy | GeelongPort
CASE STUDY:
650,000 tonnes of wind farm equipment
GeelongPort has handled more than 650,000 tonnes of Vestas wind turbine equipment for the 756MW first phase of the Golden Plains Wind Farm.
Since August 2023, experts across the supply chain have worked together to handle and store the equipment at Lascelles Wharf and then transport the components to their destination.
The major components needed to construct the 122 wind turbines in the project’s first stage include 366 blades, 732 tower sections and 122 individual powertrains, nacelles and hubs.
GeelongPort has the unique infrastructure, expertise and location to handle a project of this magnitude and continues to be the sole port for importing the Golden Plains Wind Farm equipment.
Once completed, Golden Plains Wind Farm – East will generate enough clean energy to power approximately 450,000 homes and prevent more than 4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually, bringing us another step closer to meeting Victoria’s ambitious 95% renewable energy target by 2035.
Science Based Targets Initiative
Our emissions reduction journey
GeelongPort was the first port in Australia to have a Science Based Target commitment approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
We have committed to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030, and to measure and reduce Scope 3 emissions.
This reduction target is in line with a 1.5°C warming scenario. 2018 was selected as our base year for greenhouse gas reporting as it aligns with the SBTi requirements for Small and Medium-sized enterprises using the Target-Setting Letter commitment.
GeelongPort Greenhouse Gas emissions reduction FY24
Our emissions reduction target
We commit to reduce scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 50%* by FY2030, and to measure and reduce scope 3 emissions.
*Baseline data gathered from 2018.
Our vision
To become Australia’s most sustainable port.
How we’re reducing emissions
On 1 December 2022, GeelongPort entered a 10-year renewable Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). This enables us to purchase 100% renewable electricity with net zero emissions and effectively reduce our Scope 2 emissions to zero. The annual electricity volume we have purchased through this plan provides for 100% of GeelongPort’s operational needs.
Future plan
Develop revised medium and long-term carbon reduction targets and an action plan by 31 December 2024.
Scope 1 & 2 emissions reduction journey
2018 baseline emissions recorded over calendar year. All subsequent emissions recorded over financial year Limited assurance on FY24 emissions data undertaken by GHD.
In 2018, GeelongPort’s total emissions was the equivalent of running 602 cars for one year.
What are our emissions:
SCOPE 1 (DIRECT EMISSIONS)
Direct emissions such as diesel, unleaded petrol and Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) used to fuel light vehicles, trucks, watercraft, front end loaders, cranes, portable generators. Also includes greases and lubricants used for maintenance activities and refrigerant losses.
SCOPE 2 (MARKET-BASED EMISSIONS)
Emissions from purchased heat and electricity used to power office and workshop buildings, port operational lighting and conveyor systems.
SCOPE 3 (VALUE CHAIN EMISSIONS)
Includes downstream value chain emissions such as ships at berth, potable water consumption, waste to landfill, business travel, electricity distribution and transmission, tenant electricity consumption, ICT services and equipment, capital growth and maintenance, professional consulting services and construction. Currently assessing how to obtain improved data for downstream transport and leased assets.
SCIENCE-BASED TARGET
Emissions target supported by climate science.
Notes:
• Baseline data gathered from 2018.
• 2018 baseline emissions recorded over calendar year. All subsequent emissions recorded over financial year.
• Limited assurance on FY24 emissions data undertaken by GHD.
• Emissions equivalent determined via EPA calculator – Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator | US EPA.
• For the purposes of scope 1 & 2 emissions, reporting is based on the Clean Energy Regulators definitions.
• Only market-based data is relevant and reported to SBTi.
GeelongPort Greenhouse Gas emissions reduction FY24
Top 3 sources of Scope 1 & 2 emissions in FY24
Lubricants, greases,
refrigerant losses and LPG
Fleet vehicle fuel
comsumption
Mobile plant
fuel consumption
Our progress
In FY24 we met our emissions reduction target.
Contaminated land management
We conduct an annual risk-based land and groundwater monitoring program to understand the impacts of historic land use and meet our duties under the Environment Protection Act 2017 (Vic).
Between 1947 and 1966, before environmental protection legislation was introduced in Victoria, areas that were once part of Corio Bay were backfilled with either dredge spoil or imported fill material to create new land. When the port was privatised in 1996, GeelongPort acquired the Oyster Cove Landfill site from the Shire of Corio. The landfill operated from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s and was subject to uncontrolled filling with residential, commercial and industrial waste.
This area of GeelongPort has not been used since the landfill was closed.
Because there is potential for this fill material to introduce a range of contaminants into our landholdings, contaminated land continues to be a material issue for GeelongPort.
We also continue to work on fencing off our assets to protect them from illegal dumping.
CASE STUDY:
The future of underwater asset management
GeelongPort is leading the way in sustainable asset management, having conducted an underwater asset trial using cutting-edge Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) technology.
Through a project conducted in April 2024, we worked with ROVing Intelligence and Brightly to create an asset investment plan for more than 80 underwater assets, allowing us to plan for a more sustainable future with data-backed evidence.
ROVing Intelligence uses remote-operated vehicles to assess underwater asset conditions, gather geospatial data, and take water samples to determine salinity or pollutant levels.
GeelongPort is one of the first ports in Australia to use the technology to support data capture, lifecycle modelling, and strategic investment decisions.
Following the investigation, we received a comprehensive lifecycle analysis of the assets, including scenario modelling for up to 100 years into the future. This long-term perspective is a testament to our commitment to sustainable asset management.
The analysis was based on recommendations from Ports Australia’s Wharf Structures Condition Assessment Manual (WSCAM), which is becoming a best-practice tool worldwide for conducting consistent inspections of various port assets to gather dependable and precise condition data.
The trial showcased innovative solutions to inspect assets to WSCAM standard and highlighted how we can carry out immediate reactive maintenance activities to address critical defects. Our infrastructure delivery team can use this data to understand future funding requirements to manage assets and we can use it to drive long-term strategic decision-making.
Air pollution
Stakeholders identified air pollution (i.e. dust) and reduced air quality and amenity as a material topic. At GeelongPort we are focused on monitoring air quality to ensure we identify increases in dust across the site and work to achieve our annual target to have no dust emissions above daily trigger limits for GeelongPort-managed operations.
GeelongPort uses trigger limits based on the PM10 and PM2.5 standards in the National Environment Protection (Ambient Air Quality) Measure. These standards are based on the levels of dust at the nearest exposed population or sensitive receptor. However, GeelongPort has adopted these standards as trigger limits within/on the edge of our operating boundary to be ultraconservative in our dust management.
Monitoring helps determine how dust is generated on-site, and we can work on mitigating it using the data.
While there were no EPA reportable incidents due to these conservative trigger limits, we experienced an increase in exceedances this year due to unpaved surfaces at Lascelles Berth 4 and the temporary siting of the dust monitor at the Lascelles Wharf discharge site.
Lascelles Berth 4 is a large, unpaved laydown area regularly affected by wind gusts blowing dust into the air. Future plans to develop this area to a sealed standard were produced in FY24 with an investment case to follow in FY25.
CASE STUDY:
Creating a circular process for asphalt replacement
In FY24, GeelongPort recycled 1,075 tonnes of asphalt leftover from resurfacing projects at Lascelles Wharf.
In July 2023 and May 2024, the GeelongPort infrastructure delivery team removed asphalt from the roadway between Lascelles Wharf berths 3 and 4 and the weighbridge entry and recycled the asphalt in an uneven section of the Lascelles Wharf precinct.
Port users can now use this formerly underutilised area as a short-term laydown space.
Prior to reusing asphalt on-site, the GeelongPort team sent 1,415 tonnes of used asphalt to a local asphalt supplier who used the material as a component in their Recycled Asphalt Pavement (RAP) mixes.
Asphalt suppliers can add Recycled Asphalt Pavement to new asphalt mixes, reducing the amount of new asphalt used on projects. GeelongPort regularly uses Type H asphalt for resurfacing projects, and under VicRoads standards, asphalt suppliers can add up to 10% Recycled Asphalt Pavement to this mix.
For future asphalt resurfacing projects, GeelongPort will continue to ensure that asphalt is recycled by reusing it within our precincts or donating the material to local asphalt suppliers.
CASE STUDY:
Reusing water from Lascelles Wharf
In FY24, GeelongPort reused over 1 megalitre of wastewater from Lascelles Wharf through a local circular economy approach.
Water from washing equipment at Lascelles Wharf goes into discharge tanks to prevent it from entering the bay. It is then tested and delivered to a local flower farm for use in its composting process.
The compost is used in a range of ways including on flower beds and for other farming processes.