The ESPO Award on Social Integration of Ports for 2024 of the Association of European Ports was awarded to the port of Seville for its project "Circular Economy for Valorising Maintenance Dredging Sediments" developed for to meet the need for sustainable management, in compliance with the of the principles of the circular economy, of the sediments extracted during the maintenance campaigns of the Eurovía del Guadalquivir, used as a maritime access route to the port Spanish. The award was presented by Magda Kopczynska, Director General of DG Move of the European Commission, during the a ceremony held last Wednesday at the Albert Hall of Brussels.

"For years - recalled the president of the Authority Port of Seville, Rafael Carmona, on the occasion of the ceremony - We work to enhance dredging sediments as a resource, not waste, and we use them to create new habitats and improve ecosystems, as well as to strengthen agriculture and the ceramics industry, promoting the production of bricks with Guadalquivir. With the collaboration of research groups and key stakeholders in the estuary, we have identified the uses benefits of sediments and for this reason we are inspired by the concept of circular economy".