ICTSI’s Contecon Guayaquil is LatAm’s first CO2-neutral port

Contecon Guayaquil SA (CGSA) recently became the first port in South America to obtain a carbon-neutral certification, with the Ecuador Ministry of Environment and environmental ratings agency, Sambito SA, recognizing the company’s strong and priority commitment to the environment.

The certification marking CGSA’s compliance to ISO 14064-1 standards lauds the company’s policies that are directed and translated towards greater sustainability initiatives, as well as the incorporation of technologies that reduces the operation’s impact to Ecuador’s largest and premier maritime gateway.

“This carbon neutral certification awarded to Contecon Guayaquil is a testament of our firm and unbreakable commitment to preserve the environment in our own way. This certification highlights, above all, a conviction and responsibility to guarantee eco-friendly and sustainable operations with less contaminating to the environment. This is our contribution for a better world,” says José Antonio Contreras, CGSA chief executive officer.

Contreras received CGSA’s ISO 14064-1 compliance plaque from Gustavo Manrique, President of Sambito, and Evelyn Montalván, Guayas Provincial Director of the Ministry of the Environment in a ceremony held last December 13, 2018.

While a lot of work is required to offset the Port of Guayaquil’s energy demands from its day-to-day operations, CGSA, as part of its continuing compliance, has set-up a team to verify and create mechanisms to lower the port’s industrial emissions.

CGSA also sponsored the preservation of 14,600 hectares of natural areas in Ecuador: 10,000 hectares of mangrove forests and 4,600 hectares of native forests – as part of mitigating efforts to reduce carbon emissions from port equipment and to help in the conservation of the country’s large tracts of intact natural forests.

Across all operations, ICTSI is continuing

its enhancement of energy monitoring systems, expanding the use of next generation energy-efficient cargo handling equipment and vehicle fleets,

and developing productivity measures that ensures port efficiency as its move towards optimizing energy-efficient operations.

Shown (from left) are: Gustavo Manrique, President of Sambito and Evelyn Montalván, Guayas Provincial Director of the Ministry of the Environment handing over the plaque of recognition to José Antonio Contreras, chief executive officer of Contecon Guayaquil as the first carbon-neutral port in the whole of Ecuador and Latin America.