Aegean Shipping waves goodbye to plastic!
The rapidly increasing levels of marine litter, represent a serious environmental problem at a global scale. It negatively affects marine life and biodiversity, ecosystems, livelihoods, tourism and economies. The shipping sector globally is a pioneer in banning littering at sea. A major issue for shipping companies worldwide is the implementation of banning plastic onboard.
Global actions to address the marine plastic litter issue
Global actions to address marine pollution are being made by many organizations and countries. UNCLOS, MARPOL 73/78 and BASEL Convention address different aspects of plastic pollution. The IMO has developed an action plan to address the marine plastic litter from ships by 2025. European Union aims to reduce plastic waste and its effects in the environment by putting into effect the Directive (EU) 2019/904. Philippines have developed a plan with target “Zero waste to Philippine waters by 2040”. India and Kuwait have banned the use of single use plastics in the maritime sector.
As a conscious business we decided to say NO to plastic water bottles!
We decided to say NO to plastic bottles! With great commitment to the protection of the environment, Aegean Shipping takes action to reduce the use of “single-use plastics” on-board by 80% by the end of 2024.
We avoid plastic and supply our vessels with reusable or biodegradable items. We choose to use food staff and beverages in glass, paper or can, which would be easier to recycle. As part of our plan, we decided to say goodbye to plastic bottled water. As an alternative, we installed decentralized water purifiers.
The CE approved purifier turns the onboard processed water into high quality drinking water. Crew may now have access to perfectly cleaned and healthy water. The purifier is connected to the vessel’s existing fixed drinking water installation where a drinking water outlet and a drain is already present. We provide our crew with personalized steel water bottles to refill drinking water on demand.
The water dispensers onboard our fleet are well maintained through the vessels’ PMS and the Company’s “Shipboard Occupational Health and Safety program”. We frequently check the water source and tanks through external laboratory tests.
The benefits
- Easy Installation & Maintenance
- High quality drinking water, in accordance with the International Health Regulations (IHR) of WHO, European Union (EU), World Health Organization (WHO) and MLC 2006 requirements
- Eco-friendly & energy saver solution
- Reserve of resources (transport, storage and delivery of bottled water, collection, packaging and disposal)
- Sufficient consumption
- Provides water consumers a sense of pride of doing something possible for the environment, while they get the best hydration they need throughout the day & increasing crew productivity
A total of 114.975 plastic bottles consumed yearly on our fleet vessels are replaced by water purifiers.
Carbon Footprint:
Saving equivalent to 19 tons of CO2 per year.
The increasingly negative impact of plastic usage in the marine environment is hard to ignore but living without plastic it’s not easy. We need to act together to create a sustainable and green industry for the future!
