Falmouth Harbour Wins “Most Sustainable” Award in Cornwall Sustainability Awards

Published On: 11 December 2024Last Updated: 11 December 2024By CornishStuff

Photo: Winning combination – Falmouth Harbour CEO Miles Carden & Environment Manager Vicki Spooner flanking award sponsor for the Most Sustainable Medium Sized Organisation, Steve Taylor from The Future is Green Project, Cornwall College Group. Photo – Martyn Selley Photography

A Recognition for Environmental Excellence

Falmouth Harbour has been named “Most Sustainable Medium-Sized Organisation” at the Cornwall Sustainability Awards. The accolade celebrates the Harbour’s ongoing commitment to sustainability, highlighting its environmental initiatives such as seagrass protection, tackling microfibre pollution, and moving towards vessel decarbonisation.

The Cornwall Sustainability Awards, now in their 22nd year, took place at the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth. With over 60 entrants across five categories, the awards celebrated organisations and individuals driving sustainability and environmental growth across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Sustainability at the Core

Environment Manager Vicki Spooner expressed pride in the Harbour’s recognition, stating:
“This award is a fantastic boost for us as a small commercial harbour trying to make a difference. We look at everything we do through the prism of our amazing environment and how we can best protect and enhance it, whilst operating safely and efficiently for all our users.

“We know there’s a lot more to do, and we can use this award as a catalyst to drive harder on our decarbonisation journey. The awards’ ceremony itself was full of hope and a great opportunity to meet like-minded organisations and discuss how we might collaborate in future.”

Falmouth Harbour has worked on several projects that contribute to its sustainability goals, including a partnership with the Ocean Conservation Trust to protect 30 hectares of seagrass and collaborating with Cleaner Seas to tackle microfibre pollution.

Acknowledging the Team and Partners

CEO Miles Carden credited the team and local partners for their contributions, saying:
“The award recognises the hard work of our Falmouth Harbour team, project funders like the Cornwall Council Cornwall Good Growth team who allow us to accelerate our work, and other local partners as we drive towards our sustainability targets.

“It was great to see so many organisations recognised, particularly those local to us in Falmouth, alongside organisations we have already partnered with such as Waterhaul, Falmouth Town Council and Mylor Moorings.”

Collaboration with Local Innovators

One of the Harbour’s collaborators, Newquay-based Waterhaul, also shone at the awards, winning the Circular Economy category and being named Overall Winner. Waterhaul recovers ghost gear from coastlines and repurposes it into durable products like sunglasses.

Investing in the Future

Last month, Falmouth Harbour unveiled its £1.6 million pilot boat, Atlantic. Designed by Camarc and built by Holyhead Marine, the vessel is one of the greenest of its kind in the UK. By 2025, it will operate using hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO), with infrastructure part-funded by Shared Prosperity through the Cornwall Good Growth team.

About the Awards

Cllr Martyn Alvey, Cornwall Council cabinet member for environment and climate change, praised the entrants, saying:
“The Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Sustainability Awards showcases our region’s wealth of innovative organisations which are helping nature recover, lessening our impact on the planet and fuelling our green economy and skills.

“A big congratulations to all our incredible entrants and winners and thank you to everyone who attended our awards evening.”