CMA CGM: We won’t carry plastic waste

Written by Nick Blenkey
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CMA CGM chairman and CEO Rodolphe Saadé told One Ocean Summit: “We will prevent plastic wastes from polluting ecosystems by being exported to places where sorting or recycling is not guaranteed.”

Back in January, Eastern Pacific Shipping announced that it would not carry coal cargoes. Last week, in a speech at the One Ocean Summit organized by President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron, CMA CGM Group Chairman and CEO Rodolphe Saadé announced that the group will no longer be transporting any plastic waste aboard its ships, effective June 1.

CMA CGM says that every year, around 10 million tons of plastic waste end up in the sea. Unless action is taken, that figure is set to triple over the next 20 years to reach 29 million tons per year, which will cause irreversible damage to marine ecosystems, fauna and flora.

The causes of this pollution include open-air storage and the absence of processing infrastructure for plastic waste that does not actively get recycled or reused.

CMA CGM says it has decided to take practical steps where it has the operational capability to do so, heeding the urgent calls made by some NGOs.

It says its decision will prevent this type of waste from being exported to destinations where sorting, recycling or recovery cannot be assured.

https://twitter.com/cmacgm/status/1493219193998692355?s=20&t=8wZevHTGU-O6wKlWapdgdg
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