Sustainable plastic procurement is becoming a practical lever for reducing unnecessary plastic use in shipping. By using common definitions, identifying priority plastic categories, engaging suppliers, and assessing alternatives against operational realities, maritime companies can move from broad sustainability ambition to phased, evidence-based action.
Reducing shipping’s plastic footprint may seem like a mountain to climb given the industry’s high-volume consumption of plastic products and packaging. But shipping companies can take practical steps on sustainable procurement for plastic waste prevention to drive systemic change towards reduction and circularity.
It is not simply a question of replacing one material with another. Plastic is embedded across vessel operations, catering, provisioning, logistics, packaging, cleaning, crew welfare, and technical activities. Some items are unnecessary or easily avoidable, while others serve important functions linked to safety, hygiene, cargo protection, or operational continuity.
This is why sustainable plastic procurement needs to be practical, phased, and evidence-based. Shipping companies need to understand where plastic enters their operations, which categories they can influence through procurement, which items can be reduced or phased out in the near term, and where supplier engagement or longer-term innovation is required.
This is where sustainable plastic procurement becomes important. Sustainable plastic procurement is the process of selecting products, materials, and packaging that minimise plastic waste, reduce environmental impact, and support circular economy objectives throughout the supply chain.
How sustainable plastic procurement supports ESG goals and drives maritime plastic reduction
Procurement teams influence the plastic footprint of maritime operations before waste is created. Decisions on product specifications, packaging formats, supplier requirements, delivery models, and onboard consumables determine which materials enter vessels, ports, offices, and logistics systems.
Embedding plastic reduction into procurement can support ESG goals by improving visibility over material use, reducing unnecessary single-use items, strengthening supplier accountability, and preparing companies for evolving regulatory and stakeholder expectations. However, procurement decisions must also reflect operational realities, including safety, hygiene, storage, crew acceptance, supplier availability, cost, and end-of-life infrastructure.
As regulations and stakeholder expectations continue to evolve, sustainable procurement will become an increasingly important driver of competitive advantage across the maritime sector.
How shipping companies can reduce plastic waste
A practical starting point is to create a clear inventory of plastic-containing products and packaging used across operations. This should include visible items such as bottles, cutlery, food containers, bags, and packaging, as well as less visible items such as bin liners, cleaning product bottles, protective packaging, pallet wrap, tarpaulins, ropes, PPE, and technical containers.
The next step is prioritisation. Not all plastic categories should be treated in the same way. Some items, such as plastic cutlery, straws, general-use bags, beverage bottles, disposable food containers, flexible food packaging, and laminated cartons, may offer more immediate opportunities for reduction or substitution. Other categories, such as transport packaging, protective packaging, ropes, lubricant containers, chemical containers, PPE, and technical materials, may require controlled trials, supplier engagement, or longer-term solutions.
The Maritime Association for Clean Seas’ plastic prioritisation framework uses a tiered approach to help companies sequence action. Rather than asking companies to eliminate all plastics at once, the framework distinguishes between immediate action items, controlled expansion opportunities, longer-term structural challenges, and categories that are currently outside the scope of procurement-led intervention. This helps companies build realistic roadmaps instead of relying on broad plastic reduction commitments.
- Tier 1 - Immediate Action.
- Tier 2 - Controlled Expansion.
- Tier 3 - Structural.
- Tier 4 - Out of Scope.
This phased approach allows shipping companies to distinguish quick wins from structural challenges and avoid unrealistic blanket commitments.
What to ask suppliers about plastic and packaging
Supplier engagement should begin with clear and realistic disclosure requirements. Maritime buyers can ask suppliers to provide information on plastic type, packaging weight, material composition, recycled content, recyclability under likely end-of-life conditions, reuse or take-back options, and evidence behind sustainability claims.
Supplier claims should not rely on self-declaration alone. Product specifications, packaging composition data, third-party certifications, and test evidence can help procurement teams compare options more consistently and avoid unintended consequences.
How should shipping companies assess plastic alternatives?
Switching to lower-plastic or alternative materials can be an important part of sustainable procurement, but it should not be treated as a simple like-for-like replacement exercise. In maritime operations, plastic often serves specific functions linked to safety, hygiene, durability, storage, cargo protection, and service continuity.
This is why MACS has developed a Decision Support Framework for Sustainable Plastic Procurement to help maritime companies assess alternatives more consistently. The framework encourages procurement teams to consider not only the environmental benefits of an alternative, but also whether it is operationally viable, commercially realistic, available at scale, accepted by crew, and supported by credible end-of-life pathways in the locations where vessels operate.
For some categories, the best solution may be to reduce or remove unnecessary plastic altogether. For others, it may involve reusable systems, supplier take-back models, packaging redesign, recycled-content materials, or improved recyclability. The most appropriate intervention will depend on the product, supplier landscape, operational context, and downstream waste-management infrastructure.
This structured approach helps companies avoid unintended consequences, such as switching to materials that are technically recyclable but not actually recycled in practice, or adopting alternatives that create new cost, storage, hygiene, or service-continuity challenges.
Collaboration across the value chain is also essential. Shipowners and operators, ports, ship managers, suppliers, procurement teams, industry bodies, and environmental organisations all have a role to play in reducing unnecessary plastic use and improving circularity outcomes.
Shipping companies can also work with specialist partners, such as Seven Clean Seas, to better understand their plastic footprint, identify priority reduction opportunities, and design procurement strategies that are both practical and measurable.
How can shipping companies make plastic reduction practical and realistic?
Sustainable plastic procurement gives shipping companies a practical way to reduce unnecessary plastic before it becomes waste. The challenge is not only to buy different materials, but to make better decisions about what enters maritime operations in the first place.
Some plastic categories can be addressed quickly. Others will require supplier engagement, operational testing, clearer specifications, or longer-term collaboration. A phased approach allows companies to act where change is realistic today, while building pathways for more complex categories over time.
For shipping, circularity and plastic reduction will not be achieved through one decision or one supplier requirement. It will be built through consistent procurement choices that reduce unnecessary plastic, improve accountability, and keep materials in use for longer wherever possible.
