Good practice:

Conveyor belt at the port terminal Varna West

The current situation sees a large number of heavy-duty vehicles moving cargo to and from Port Varna. This solution is not optimal from an ecological standpoint, since the trucks release an enormous amount of harmful gases into the atmosphere. The goal of the project is to re-duce the emissions and the overall pollution in the area as a result of economic activity.
The building of a new conveyor belt system is expected to facilitate the current traffic situa-tion and reduce the emissions of harmful gases. The conveyor belt system is set to reduce stand-by time of heavy-duty trucks waiting at the port. In effect, this will make the overall pro-cess of moving cargo more efficient and improve the environmental conditions.
Port Varna will be the primary beneficiary of the good practice project.

Port Varna will require resources both in terms of monetary support, manpower, and equip-ment. At this time, the project is initially estimated to cost 2 515 000 EUR, with possible adjustments as its implementation goes underway.

The conveyor belt system is set to reduce stand-by time of heavy-duty trucks waiting at the port. Based on other similar projects at other ports in Bulgaria, the new conveyor belt system will reduce the need for heavy-duty duty vehicles by 20%. This will directly contribute to the emissions of harmful gasses into the atmosphere by a similar percentage. The specific fig-ures are yet to be determined, but in all cases a reduction is guaranteed.

1. A lack of trained personnel to operate the new equipment;
2. The need to train competent workers;
3. During the construction of the new system, the COVID-19 pan-demic emerged, slowing work progress and efficacy.

As a result of working on this project, the following learning points were established:
• The stationary rubber conveyor belt system allows for improved ef-ficiency in cargo transportation.
• In reducing the stand-by time of heavy-duty vehicles at the loading grounds, the port will be able to reduce the amount of harmful emissions into the atmosphere.
• With the implementation of the two good practices, Port Varna will reduce the amount of harmful emissions down to less than 13,000 t/km2.