CMA CGM to Stop Carrying Plastic Waste on Its Ships

French shipping group CMA CGM will stop transporting plastic waste aboard its ships beginning June 1 to help curb ocean pollution.

CMA CGM said it currently carries the equivalent of about 50,000 standard containers of plastic waste annually.

Each year, around 10 million tons of plastic waste end up in the sea and, unless action is taken, that figure is set to triple over the next 20 years to reach 29 million tons per year, causing irreversible damage to marine ecosystems, fauna and flora, CMA CGM said in its announcement, made during the One Ocean Summit hosted by France.

CMA CGM said its decision no longer transport plastic waste will prevent it from being exported to destinations where sorting, recycling or recovery cannot be assured.

In his address during the One Ocean Summit, CMA CGM Group chairman and CEO Rodolphe Saadé also announced that CMA CGM will host one of the two sites of the French Institute for Decarbonation at Tangram, its major innovation and training center due to open in Marseille in 2023.

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