Reducing Our Plastic Waste
- Our Ambitions…
- Achieve a 25% reduction in average plastic waste per ship by 2025 (vs 2021 baseline).
- Achieved in 2022…
- IN PROGRESS — our plastic waste per vessel increased by 9% (vs 2021 baseline)*.
- 91% of the Berge Bulk fleet has completely eliminated plastic water bottles on board.
*Due to COVID-19 restrictions in 2021, many ports prohibited the offloading of plastic waste. This waste accumulated on board and resulted in an over-inflated volume of waste recorded in 2022..
In today’s world, plastic is almost unavoidable. It is used in the production of everything — food and drink packaging, toiletries, clothing, furniture, computers… the list is endless. It is designed to be durable, and can take anywhere from a few decades to millions of years to degrade in landfill.
Plastic is now a major problem
Globally, it is estimated that approximately 8 million metric tonnes of plastic find their way into the oceans each year — the equivalent of dumping a garbage truck full of plastic into the ocean every minute — it can then be carried thousands of kilometres in the ocean’s currents.
Our strategies to combat plastic waste
Our strategies range from awareness campaigns, to external collaborations, procurement policies, volunteering activities and more.
At Berge Bulk, we pay keen attention to the plastic waste footprint of every vessel in our fleet. Plastic comes on board in various forms — from drink bottles, to food packaging, to the containers that store our cleaning chemicals.
A few years ago, we made a commitment to reduce our plastic waste per vessel by 25%. Using our 2017 plastic waste data as our benchmark, we gave ourselves four years (2018-2021) to achieve this commitment. Each vessel in the fleet was given an individual reduction target based on the vessel’s historical plastic waste performance and, by the end of 2021, we had exceeded our target, achieving a 30% reduction in plastic waste per vessel! To keep the momentum going, we have committed to a further 25% reduction by the end of 2025.
Recycling Initiatives in Singapore
In 2022, Berge Bulk participated in the Singapore Recycling Initiative, organised by one of our catering suppliers, Oceanic. The initiative aims to promote responsible waste management practices among vessels. In 2022, 15 Berge Bulk vessels participated in the initiative, contributing 41 cubic metres of recyclable waste.
Moving forward, we will be encouraging more vessels to participate in the programme — increasing the total amount of recyclable waste that can be disposed of sustainably, and contributing towards reducing the environmental impact of marine transportation.
Our Plastic Waste Projects
how we’re tackling waste head on
Cleaning Up Puerto Galera, Philippines
15 Officers clean up the Philippines with the Sea Adventure School
Read More
Plastic Awareness Through Well@Sea Challenges
All our crews engaging in challenges set on our Well@Sea platform
Read MoreHow We Tackle Our Food Waste
Learn how we are facing up to the challenges on board Berge Bulk vessels and building a waste-conscious culture amongst our colleagues…