By
Rebecca Gibson |
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. has banned single-use plastic straws on the 26 ships in its Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises fleets, as well as its two island destinations, Great Stirrup Cay and Harvest Caye.
The company will implement the ban this August as part of its ‘Sail & Sustain’ initiative, which aims to reduce the amount waste in the ocean and onshore landfill sites, minimise carbon dioxide emissions and increase sustainable sourcing. Estimates suggest that the ban will eliminate more than 50 million plastic straws each year across Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ global fleet.
“Eliminating single-use plastic straws across our global fleet and island destinations builds on our global environmental programme ‘Sail & Sustain’ and further reduces our environmental footprint,” said Frank Del Rio, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. “As a member of the Trash Free Seas Alliance, we are committed to doing our part to protect the world’s oceans for future generations to enjoy.”
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is also a member of Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas Alliance, which brings together thought leaders from industry, conservation and academia to create a forum for pragmatic collaborative opportunities that will measurably reduce waste in the oceans.
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“We commend Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings for this important step to reduce single-use plastics,” said Janis Searles Jones, CEO of Ocean Conservancy. “Plastic straws are just a fraction of the plastic in the ocean, but they are always among the top 10 items collected during Ocean Conservancy’s annual International Coastal Cleanup and can be deadly to ocean wildlife, which is why we have long urged our supporters to skip the straw when they can.”