Maritime alliance sets out to cut plastic pollution and waste leakage from shipping and port operations worldwide
Leading shipping companies have joined a new alliance intended to reduce plastic pollution linked to maritime operations through co-ordinated measures on board vessels and in ports.
The Maritime Association for Clean Seas (MACS) was founded by ocean impact organisation Seven Clean Seas (SCS) and brought together founding members Berge Bulk, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, X-Press Feeders and Britoil Offshore Services.
The alliance aims to cut plastic use and improve waste handling, including recovery projects in polluted coastal regions, building on the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Plastic Marine Litter Action Plan.
According to SCS, oceans carry around 90% of global trade and provide livelihoods for more than 2M seafarers, yet an estimated 14M tonnes of plastic enters and damages marine ecosystems every year.
While the maritime sector contributes only a small fraction of that volume, cargo losses and poor handling of shipboard or quayside waste could have serious consequences, especially where light packaging and plastic pellets escape into the sea.
Seven Clean Seas founder and chairman Tom Peacock-Nazil said the initiative was framed around collective action “Seven Clean Seas has always believed in collective action as the most powerful lever for change,” he said.
He added, “With MACS, we’re providing the maritime industry with the tools it needs to make measurable progress against plastic pollution. Not in isolation, but together.”
