While we consider the actions we can take for a healthy planet, the clock is ticking.
“On a global level we need to reduce emissions from 47.9 billion tons to 2.5 billion tons and, if we want to meet our global goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C to prevent long-lasting damage, we only have around 10 years to do it,” says Kristoffer Jensen, senior architect and head of interior and accommodation at OSK Design. “How do we translate the global environmental goals into industry targets, while still offering recreational experiences to cruise passengers and enabling shipowners to maintain balanced businesses?”
Cruise and ferry operators have invested in technologies to increase the energy efficiency of their operations, as well as shore power and alternative fuels such as LNG and biofuel, to achieve this goal. Now, they are also experimenting with new approaches to interior design and refurbishment projects, and rethinking the materials and products they are using onboard their ships.
“To move beyond promises, the industry must embrace lifecycle thinking by selecting materials that are not only sustainable at origin but also durable, repairable and recyclable throughout multiple refurbishment cycles,” says Greta Galmine, head of people and culture at marine outfitting firm Aros Marine.
Wassim Daoud, head of corporate social responsibility and sustainability at cruise brand Ponant, agrees. “Achieving true sustainability requires collaboration and recyclable, biodegradable or upcycled materials that reduce resource depletion and climate change,” he says. “By prioritising energy-efficient design solutions – such as low-energy lighting and HVAC systems – and setting industry-wide standards, we can create sustainable, high-quality interiors that support environmental and operational goals.”
Century Cruises uses eco-certified multilayered engineered wood and honeycomb boards for its interiors
Many passenger shipping brands are making progress with more sustainable materials and designing for longevity, including China-based river cruise operator Century Cruises.
“We prioritise the use of environmentally friendly, non-toxic and renewable materials throughout our vessels,” says Jack Xiong, the brand’s director of marketing and sales. “For instance, our furniture utilises eco-certified multilayer engineered wood with fire-retardant panels, which minimises the need for us to use paints or finishes that release harmful volatile organic compounds. Our ships’ ceiling panels are made of aluminium with a sandblasted eco-coating, while their walls feature lightweight aluminium honeycomb boards and our flooring is crafted with 100 per cent handmade Axminster carpets. These choices reduce formaldehyde and benzene emissions while ensuring a healthier, more comfortable onboard environment.”
Design for disassembly
As part of the move towards circular design and lifecycle thinking, the industry is also exploring how it can create interior spaces and products with components that can be easily separated and updated, repaired or refurbished – or removed and then repurposed or recycled – to avoid generating excessive waste that goes straight to landfill.
“I believe we could design interiors that can be remodelled without requiring us to rip the full space apart,” says Petra Ryberg, designer and owner at Design Studio Berg+. “For instance, we could easily change a sports bar into a sushi bar without touching the steel. We should also prioritise durability over following trends by using products and materials that last over time and don’t need to be frequently replaced. Showing these possibilities to clients also makes sense from a business perspective because it could help them save lots of money.”
Daniela Herget, owner of Cruise Quality Consult, says this planning should happen during the initial design stages for every ship interior. “We should be considering what we will do with products and materials at the end of their lifecycles, evaluating what will need to be replaced and what can be refurbished instead,” she says. “We must thoughtfully select durable and circular materials for newbuilds, then try to keep or modernise these items during dry docks, rather than fully replacing them. Plus, we must identify key performance indicators (KPIs) to track waste reduction and sustainability performance during dry dock projects.”
Establishing KPIs and common sustainability benchmarks will help the industry to develop a collective understanding of what environmental sustainability means in the context of marine interiors, as well as set limits on what is and isn’t considered acceptable. “There needs to be clear and concise regulations that are applied strictly at a global level,” says Ryberg.
Sustainability benchmarks, KPIs and regulations will also make it possible to analyse and compare the environmental impact of every item used onboard a cruise ship – from the individual raw materials all the way to the end of life. Having access to this accurate data will enable designers to guide clients into choosing the most sustainable options.
“To inform material and product selection, we depend on quality supplier information,” says Jennifer de Vere-Hopkins, associate director of design firm Jestico + Whiles. “Our top concern is obtaining the right data, which is reliable and comparable between products, to evaluate options equitably and advise our clients confidently. Suppliers that offer better circularity credentials will be prioritised. Longevity, ease of repair and refurbishment, as well as recycled content will feature in our selection criteria. Suppliers that innovate existing products will also be on our radar.”
It’s also crucial for the industry to use benchmarks to monitor the impact of the sustainability measures they have implemented. “Measurable, standardised metrics are essential to track real progress and make sustainability a shared language across projects, companies and continents,” says Galmine. “In addition, it’s time to pilot fully sustainable interior solutions onboard ships – not as isolated initiatives, but as holistic test cases to help us refine and scale them. These pilots can only succeed with early, cross-functional collaboration, where designers, outfitters and operators work as one team to prove that sustainability and quality can go hand in hand.”
Cross-sector collaboration
While many organisations in the industry have differing priorities when it comes to increasing the sustainability of maritime interiors, almost all agree that no one can do it alone. It will take collaboration between designers, outfitters, suppliers, shipowners, shipyards and other key stakeholders across the supply chain to drive innovation and develop cost-effective solutions that can be scaled across the industry to make a real difference.
Shipowners and shipyards, for example, must work together to ensure ships are built with circularity in mind from the newbuild stage, according to My Nguyen, director of interior design at Holland America and Seabourn. “Both parties need to be aligned and set new standards for the future of shipbuilding that focus on sustainable and circular design,” she says. “They should add these requirements to the contract, rather than only using past reference ships.”
Similarly, passenger shipping operators should collaborate with vendors and other partners to develop viable solutions for minimising waste during refurbishment projects. “There are some exciting innovations in the works that will offer solutions to keep old textiles, carpets, mattresses, aluminium furniture and more out of landfill,” says Nguyen. “I’m confident that if all brands in the industry incorporated into their dry dock planning a demand to process these types of materials on-site at the dry docks and partner with vendors that can turn this waste into useful products or materials that can go back into the industry, it can be a win-win for all parties. The more waste the suppliers can count on processing, the more this type of innovation will become available.”
Meanwhile, designers and specifiers must incentivise suppliers to develop circular products and materials. “We should demand products that are circular, aesthetically pleasing, maintenance friendly, International Maritime Organization certified and available at a competitive price point,” says Nguyen. “The more specifiers demand products that meet these five criteria, the more options will become available in the market at an affordable price.”
Cruise lines themselves will increasingly partner with suppliers and manufacturers in their long-term planning and initiatives too, predicts Liz Schneider, owner of Liz Schneider Interiors. “I believe cruise lines also have opportunities to include the guest, ship and shoreside audience as they evolve their vision to embrace sustainable interiors. And while brands are innovating and evolving, so too will sustainable design.”
Working in partnership will also enable the industry to ensure that sustainability goals are achievable within commercial constraints, says Nick Farrell, co-owner of marine interior outfitting firm Trimline. “Small, practical steps – such as modular design choices, demountable systems and opting for verified sustainable materials – are creating measurable progress for Trimline,” he says. “We believe that collaboration, not just innovation, is key to scaling impact. It’s not about perfection – it’s about persistence and sharing knowledge to move the industry forwards together.”
Andrea Bartoli, director of outfitting at Carnival Shipbuilding, also advocates for stakeholders across the industry to share knowledge about circular design principles, eco-friendly materials, advanced technologies, best practices for reducing waste and other innovations to drive continuous progress. “Providing comprehensive education and training programmes for industry professionals to stay informed about sustainable practices and implement them effectively is essential,” he says.
Sustainable Maritime Interiors Declaration signatories – who include individuals from across the maritime interiors supply chain – must also play a key role in championing the need for change. “Together, we must make more noise, set new industry targets and use science to both support our arguments and make our goals more reliable,” says Jensen. “In addition, we should create and develop scenarios to show what the future of tourism could look like if we pledged not to consume more of the planet’s resources. These scenarios could be the basis for us developing new products, offerings and materials.”
While the path to developing fully sustainable maritime interiors may be long and complex, it is not difficult to begin the journey. As Herget says: “Just do something – every small step we make contributes to a cleaner ocean.”
Champions of change
“Meaningful progress in circularity within maritime interiors will be achieved when circular design principles are fully embraced, and when the industry unites around a shared vision and collective responsibility.
The success of closed-loop systems and circular initiatives is rooted in the power of collaboration. When all the players – cruise lines, suppliers, designers, architects, specifiers and project managers – are actively involved from the outset and working together towards a common objective, then truly exceptional outcomes become possible.”
Cristina Stefani, Marketing Strategist for Circularity Projects, Aquafil
“One of the major problems when it comes to sustainable furniture is that there’s a lot of greenwashing and poor overall knowledge about the subject. For example, specifiers do not always think about what will happen to all the loose furniture on a ship when it reaches the end of its life. Rather than choosing pieces that will be scrapped, specifiers should work with furniture manufacturers that offer continuous refurbishment services and precise processes for guaranteeing that these items will not end up in landfill at the end of their lifecycles. For example, Arper’s Catifa Carta comes with a business model attached that foresees its transformation into biochar that can be used to improve soil – the first instance of regenerative design in the industry.”
Andrea Mulloni, Head of Sustainability, Arper
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