Maersk Line announced a new policy to refrain from purchasing containers with floors made of uncertified tropical hardwood, the company's press release said.
“Illegal logging is widely recognised as a serious threat to forests, people and wildlife. We feel obligated to use our purchasing power to push for higher standards and ensure that the timber we use for container floors come from responsible forestry,” says Jacob Sterling, Head of Climate & Environment, Maersk Line.
Traditionally, shipping lines have had their containers fitted with tropical hardwood floors. It takes two cubic metres of hardwood to produce floors for three 40 foot containers. The container industry uses approximately 1.2-1.5 million cubic metres of hardwood annually to meet demand for new containers.
As a result of the new policy, all new Maersk Line containers purchased as of January 2011 will have floors made of timber from sources employing responsible forestry practices or non-wood alternatives such as bamboo and recycled plastic. Any tropical hardwood used will be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). As an interim solution applicable only in 2011, tropical hardwood verified as legally compliant will be accepted while other floor types are scaled up in production.
To date, Maersk Line has purchased 64,000 containers that comply with the new policy. Over the next 5 years, Maersk Line will purchase approx. 3 million containers (TEU), more than doubling its current container fleet. A large percentage of the container fleet will therefore have new alternative floorboards within a relative short time span. Certified floors will be in all Maersk Line containers within 18 years, the typical lifetime of a container.
The new alternative flooring solutions have been tested and developed in partnership with company suppliers.
Maersk Container Industry (MCI) in Dongguan, China produced its first FSC-labelled container for Maersk Line in April 2011. The container is fitted with hardwood floor from certified responsible forestry.
A.P. Moller - Maersk Group’s shipping division Maersk Line is a global leading liner shipping company. The Maersk Line fleet comprises more than 500 vessels and a number of containers corresponding to over 1,900,000 TEUs.
“Illegal logging is widely recognised as a serious threat to forests, people and wildlife. We feel obligated to use our purchasing power to push for higher standards and ensure that the timber we use for container floors come from responsible forestry,” says Jacob Sterling, Head of Climate & Environment, Maersk Line.
Traditionally, shipping lines have had their containers fitted with tropical hardwood floors. It takes two cubic metres of hardwood to produce floors for three 40 foot containers. The container industry uses approximately 1.2-1.5 million cubic metres of hardwood annually to meet demand for new containers.
As a result of the new policy, all new Maersk Line containers purchased as of January 2011 will have floors made of timber from sources employing responsible forestry practices or non-wood alternatives such as bamboo and recycled plastic. Any tropical hardwood used will be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). As an interim solution applicable only in 2011, tropical hardwood verified as legally compliant will be accepted while other floor types are scaled up in production.
To date, Maersk Line has purchased 64,000 containers that comply with the new policy. Over the next 5 years, Maersk Line will purchase approx. 3 million containers (TEU), more than doubling its current container fleet. A large percentage of the container fleet will therefore have new alternative floorboards within a relative short time span. Certified floors will be in all Maersk Line containers within 18 years, the typical lifetime of a container.
The new alternative flooring solutions have been tested and developed in partnership with company suppliers.
Maersk Container Industry (MCI) in Dongguan, China produced its first FSC-labelled container for Maersk Line in April 2011. The container is fitted with hardwood floor from certified responsible forestry.
A.P. Moller - Maersk Group’s shipping division Maersk Line is a global leading liner shipping company. The Maersk Line fleet comprises more than 500 vessels and a number of containers corresponding to over 1,900,000 TEUs.