Phasing out plastic water bottles
In 2019, we launched a project to install enhanced water purification units onboard our ships to reduce dependency on plastic bottles. Six purification units were installed on each vessel: engine room, bridge, mess room, and three decks in accommodation.
The results of this effort have been encouraging. Before the start of this initiative, the average monthly consumption for our fleet was 794 plastic water bottles per vessel per month. By the end of December 2022, this number had significantly decreased to only 28 plastic bottles per vessel per month. This represents a 96.5% reduction in plastic water bottle waste over the course of this campaign.
While we noticed a 9% rise in plastic waste per vessel compared to our 2021 baseline, this was partially due to the disruptions in offloading plastic waste from our ships in China caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The plastic waste that had accumulated could only be unloaded in 2022, which led to the increase observed. As such, the recorded plastic waste in 2022 does not accurately reflect our plastic waste reduction efforts.
By the end of 2022, 91% of the Berge Bulk fleet had completely eliminated plastic water bottles. From 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2022, we have avoided a total of 1,594,527 plastic water bottles fleetwide.
IMPA Save
In 2021, Berge Bulk became a signatory to IMPA SAVE — an initiative by the International Marine Purchasing Association (IMPA), that aims to drive best practices and push the shipping industry to take action on helping clean our oceans. Signatories commit to reducing the use of plastic water bottles on board by 2025, and Berge Bulk is proud to be well ahead of schedule.
