A gold level environmental award has been presented to Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) and CalMac Ferries for their commitment to improving environmental quality and management at 26 ports and harbours across the country.

Our National Award for Environmental Excellence® recognises achievements across a variety of areas, including building maintenance, cleanliness, carbon and waste management and engagement with the local community.

Auditors visited and audited the sites across Scotland in October 2025 and completed a desktop assessment of environmental documentation. Overall, CMAL and CalMac received a Gold award level across 26 sites – up from Silver at the last audit carried out in 2022.

Each port and harbour achieved individual awards, 16 sites scooping gold and 10 sites achieving silver. The audits highlighted that at 12 sites standards had improved over the past two years securing these ports and harbours a higher award level.

The ports and harbours are located across the five following local authority areas; Argyll and Bute, Highlands, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and the Western Isles. A full list is available below.

Ruth Rice, Environmental and Sustainability Manager at CMAL, said: “Achieving a Gold award across all of our ports and harbours is a strong reflection of the consistent effort being made by our teams across the network.

“We are committed to continually improving environmental standards across our infrastructure, and it’s encouraging to see that progress recognised. We look forward to building on this work in partnership with CalMac and Keep Scotland Beautiful in the future.”

Alex Cross, Director of Standards and Performance for CalMac, said: “We are delighted to receive a Gold Award from Keep Scotland Beautiful, particularly after winning a Silver Award last year. This is a recognition of the targeted work we carry out as part of our environmental action plan.

“CalMac operates 500 sailings a day across the stunning waters of the west coast of Scotland, and we play an important part in helping to protect this unique and diverse environment.

“More enhancements can always be made, and we will continue to work on the opportunities for improvement which were highlighted in the Keep Scotland Beautiful report. Another aim for us will be achieving Keep Scotland Beautiful’s Diamond Award for carbon management.”

Brian Rae, our Environment and Place Services Manager, said: “We are delighted to recognise CMAL and CalMac’s environmental commitment as part of our ongoing partnership with them. This is the third round of assessments our auditors have carried out, and it is brilliant to see the award framework being used to drive continuous improvements at so many ports and harbours.

“We work closely with businesses and organisations across Scotland to inspire and support positive action and celebrate environmental achievements.

“Our National Award for Environmental Excellence® provides an exciting opportunity to assess and reward the efforts that are being made to help keep Scotland beautiful and I would like to congratulate everyone at the ports and harbours we visited for their sustained commitment to making environmental improvements that matter.”

Visit our National Award for Environmental Excellence® webpage for more information.

 

Port/Harbour name	Location	Local authority area	2025 level
Claonaig	Top of Kintyre, near Kennacraig and Tarbert	Argyll and Bute	Gold
Colintraive	Mainland North of Bute, near Auchenbreck and Ormidale	Argyll and Bute	Silver
Coll	Island in the Inner Hebrides (West of Mull)	Argyll and Bute	Gold
Colonsay	Island in the Inner Hebrides (North of Islay, South of Mull)	Argyll and Bute	Gold
Fishnish	Isle of Mull	Argyll and Bute	Gold
Gallanach	Near Oban	Argyll and Bute	Silver
Kennacraig	Top of Kintyre, near Tarbert	Argyll and Bute	Gold
Kerrera	Island, just off Oban	Argyll and Bute	Silver
Oban		Argyll and Bute	Gold
Port Ellen	Isle of Islay	Argyll and Bute	Gold
Portavadie	Mainland, on the Cowel peninsular	Argyll and Bute	Silver
Rhubodach	Isle of Bute	Argyll and Bute	Silver
Tarbert	Top of Kintyre	Argyll and Bute	Gold
Tiree	Island in the Inner Hebrides (most Westerly)	Argyll and Bute	Gold
Tobermory	Isle of Mull	Argyll and Bute	Gold
Armadale	Isle of Skye	Highland	Gold
Kilchoan	Mainland, on the peninsular of Ardnamurchan – opposite Tobermory in Mull	Highland	Silver
Lochaline	Mainland, in the Morvern area – opposite Fishnish in Mull	Highland	Silver
Gourock	Upper Firth of Clyde	Inverclyde	Gold
Wemyss Bay	Firth of Clyde	Inverclyde	Silver
Brodick	Isle of Arran	North Ayrshire	Gold
Cumbrae	Isle of Cumbrae, lower Firth of Clyde	North Ayrshire	Silver
Largs	On Firth of Clyde	North Ayrshire	Silver
Lochranza	Ise of Arran	North Ayrshire	Gold
Castlebay	Isle of Barra (Outer Hebrides)	Western Isles	Gold
Lochboisdale	Island of South Uist (Outer Hebrides)	Western Isles	Gold