- CMA CGM will no longer carry plastic waste on board its ships worldwide starting June 1 this year
- Chairman Rodolphe Saadé says the decision, a landmark in the shipping industry, will help protect the oceans and biodiversity
- Some 10 million tons of plastic waste end up in the sea yearly due to open-air storage and a lack of processing infrastructure for this rubbish
- Environmentalists say that figure is set to triple over the next 20 years to 29 million tons a year if no action is taken now
France’s largest container shipping line, CMA CGM, will no longer be carrying any plastic waste shipments on its vessels starting on June 1, group chairman Rodolphe Saadé announced at the One Ocean Summit in the port city of Brest on February 11.
Saadé unveiled the landmark decision in the shipping industry as some 40 heads of state and government discuss how to protect the oceans and biodiversity during the three-day summit, officially called One Planet Summit for the Ocean, organized by French President Emmanuel Macron.
In his address, Saadé also announced that the group will host one of the two sites of the French Institute for Decarbonation at Tangram, CMA CGM Group’s major innovation and training center that is due to open in Marseille in 2023.
Macron announced new plans by the United States and France to protect the environment, including an expansion of the protection of the French Antarctic territories.
“2022 will be a decisive year, we should take here, in Brest, clear and firm commitments… Europe has a key role to play”, Macron said.
Environmental studies estimate 10 million tons of plastic waste end up in the sea every year due to open-air storage and the absence of processing infrastructure for this type of waste.
Experts say unless action is taken, that figure is set to triple over the next 20 years to 29 million tons per year, causing irreversible damage to marine ecosystems, fauna and flora.
Saadé said CMA CGM will prevent plastic waste from being exported to destinations where sorting, recycling or recovery cannot be assured.
He said the group has thus decided to take practical steps where it has the operational capability to do so, heeding urgent calls made by certain NGOs.
CMA CGM said in a press release that with this decision, it is stepping up its efforts to make conserving biodiversity one of its corporate social responsibility priorities and to develop trade that is more responsible and fair for everyone and for the planet.
