LEADING ferry company Stena Line is introducing biodegradable bags on its Irish Sea routes as part of a bid to phase out all carrier bags and disposables made from plastics.
Stena Line sells almost one million plastic carrier bags every year on board its 36 vessels operating on 20 routes across Europe but now they are being replaced with a fully biodegradable bag.
“Plastics ending up in the ocean is a growing environmental problem,” said Erik Lewenhaupt, Head of Sustainability at Stena Line. “Therefore we have set the ambitious target to phase out all carrier bags and disposables from plastics onboard all our ferries during the coming year.”
In 2016 Stena Line introduced a plastic bag made from 80 per cent recycled plastics. Now it is replaced with a fully biodegradable and compostable carrier bag, made from the bio material Biodolomer®, produced in Sweden by a company named Gaia.
The change to a biodegradable carrier bag is an important step in Stena Line’s efforts to phase out all carrier bags and consumables made from plastics during 2017-2018 onboard all 36 Stena Line ferries.
This summer will also see more than 1.3m disposable coffee cups onboard replaced with a biodegradable alternative.
Stena Line’s sustainability efforts aren’t limited to onboard its ferries but extend right across the company to include ports, terminals and offices.
“We focus on four key strategic areas based on the Sustainable Development Goals developed by UN and this is connected to goal number 12, Responsible Consumption and Production,” said Erik Lewenhaupt.
The other three focus areas are Good Health and Wellbeing, Affordable and Clean Energy, and Life Below Water.
Stena Line is the largest ferry operator on the Irish Sea, offering the biggest fleet and the widest choice of routes between Ireland and Britain including Fishguard to Rosslare, Holyhead to Dublin, Liverpool, Heysham and Cairnryan to Belfast, with a total of 228 weekly sailing options. Stena Line also offers a direct service from Rosslare to Cherbourg with three return crossings a week.
Read more about Stena Line’s sustainable journey at www.stenaline.com
Read more about the bio material Biodolomer® at http://www.gaiabiomaterials.
