Defining KPIs to measure eco-sustainable performance at container terminals in Sri Lanka

A port or a terminal is always associated with various adverse environmental impacts. There are different tools and standards to measure environmental performance; such as ISO 14001, ISO 14031, EMAS and SDM. But incorporating environmental sustainability into the Balanced Scorecard gives comprehensive, internally-developed environmental performance management tool to improve ecological sustainability. For this research, focused interviews were done to identify existing environmental issues at container terminals in Sri Lanka, and Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) was the base tool to rank the defined KPIs, using a questionnaire survey. Finally a Strategy Map was drawn for the extended Eco-BSC. The findings of research show that three container terminals, JCT/UCT, SAGT and CICT are having varied environmental issues and priorities, therefore the outcomes of the results are unique to each terminal. The developed model will provide a comprehensive tool for environmental performance management, which will help measure and mitigate adverse environmental impacts, and improving ecological sustainability at the container terminal.