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MACS alliance targets ocean plastic from shipping
Maritime alliance sets out to cut plastic pollution and waste leakage from shipping and port operations worldwide
Leading shipping companies have joined a new alliance intended to reduce plastic pollution linked to maritime operations through co-ordinated measures on board vessels and in ports.
The Maritime Association for Clean Seas (MACS) was founded by ocean impact organisation Seven Clean Seas (SCS) and brought together founding members Berge Bulk, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, X-Press Feeders and Britoil Offshore Services.
The alliance aims to cut plastic use and improve waste handling, including recovery projects in polluted coastal regions, building on the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Plastic Marine Litter Action Plan.
According to SCS, oceans carry around 90% of global trade and provide livelihoods for more than 2M seafarers, yet an estimated 14M tonnes of plastic enters and damages marine ecosystems every year.
While the maritime sector contributes only a small fraction of that volume, cargo losses and poor handling of shipboard or quayside waste could have serious consequences, especially where light packaging and plastic pellets escape into the sea.
Seven Clean Seas founder and chairman Tom Peacock-Nazil said the initiative was framed around collective action “Seven Clean Seas has always believed in collective action as the most powerful lever for change,” he said.
He added, “With MACS, we’re providing the maritime industry with the tools it needs to make measurable progress against plastic pollution. Not in isolation, but together.”
The association set two core objectives of scaling up ocean plastic recovery and cutting waste across the maritime value chain.
For 2026, MACS plans to focus on sustainable procurement and material use, vessel waste measurement and reduction, and improved portside waste reception. These priorities aligned with IMO’s 2030 Action Plan and with SCS’ mission to recover 100,000,000 kg of plastic and improve 200,000 lives by 2030.
Berge Bulk head of sustainability and communications Michael Blanding said membership extended an existing collaboration with SCS.
“At Berge Bulk, the oceans are at the heart of our business, so we have always felt an obligation to protect them and a responsibility to keep them clean,” he said. “Our long-standing work with SCS has already delivered tangible results, and through MACS, we’re proud to help lead a united industry response that can achieve change at scale.”
X-Press Feeders chief operating officer Francis Goh linked membership with the company’s wider sustainability agenda.
“As a global shipping company, we recognise the responsibility we have to safeguard the oceans that sustain global trade,” he said.
“Our collaboration with SCS goes back several years and joining MACS is a natural extension of our sustainability journey which goes beyond reducing emissions to also address the waste and plastic challenges facing our shared environment. Together with our peers, we can make practical, lasting improvements across the maritime ecosystem.”
MACS invites further members from across the sector that wish to play an active role in addressing ocean plastic and waste linked to maritime trade.
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