Changing the world of adventure
We are constantly enhancing how we reduce, recycle and handle our waste – and are sharing everything we learn along∘ the way. Our guests and crew collect tons of waste from beaches every year and are educated and trained in conservation. Hurtigruten is spreading awareness about pollution in every way we can, including partnerships, organisations, research and real time monitoring∘ of the oceans.
Hurtigruten is investing in cutting-edge technology and advancing innovations throughout our entire organisation. We are building the world’s greenest and most advanced fleet of expedition cruise ships and are changing the world of adventure travel. We are continuously drilling down into every detail to ensure that we keep improving.
Banning single-use plastic
The fight against plastic pollution has been a focus for Hurtigruten for years. 15 metric tons of plastic ends up in the world oceans every minute of the day and if the trend continues, this number will double in the next 10 years. This means that by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans.
Hurtigruten will become the world’s first plastic-free cruise company. And Hurtigruten was the first major travel company∘ to remove single-use plastic from all our ships, restaurants and hotels. Plastic straws have been replaced by metal, stir pins will no longer be used – and the same with plastic cups wrapped in plastic, plastic cutlery, plastic bags, plastic lids on coffee cups, plastic toothpicks, plastic aprons, single-use packaging of butter and all other single-use plastic items that Hurtigruten’s 500,000 guests and 2,500 employees encounter on a day-to-day basis.
The single-use plastic ban also is also being imposed on the hotels, restaurants and other establishments of our land-based operations. Plastic packaging has either been removed or replaced by environmentally friendly alternatives made of paper, metal or other biodegradable and sustainable materials. And most important, this means a huge cut in single-use items all together.
No one can win the war on plastic alone. At Hurtigruten, we work actively to spread the experiences from our plastic reduction program and engage our guests, allies, competitors, local communities, authorities and anyone else who wants∘ to join the fight. We have also implemented stricter sustainability demands on our suppliers, challenging them to reduce or stop the use of single-use plastic.
Cleaning beaches
The most important everyday task of our crews and guests is to stop the waste before it hits the oceans. But sometimes, we need to do some first aid as well. On a daily basis, Hurtigruten Expedition teams take guests on excursions and hikes somewhere truly spectacular. On every landing at every destination, our Expedition Teams and guests are encouraged to take part in collecting waste. In addition, Hurtigruten Expedition Teams∘ arrange larger beach cleanups on carefully selected spots. This results in the removal of several metric tons of waste every year.
Spreading awareness – creating ambassadors
Hurtigruten wants to create a deeper understanding of the areas we explore and the opportunities and challenges they are facing. We aim to create ambassadors for every destination on every voyage. Guests are joined by Hurtigruten’s highly skilled and experienced Expedition Teams. With fields of expertise ranging from biology and polar survival to the Northern Lights and sustainability, they indulge in talks, lectures and discussions about local cultures, wildlife, nature and pollution – such as plastic and microplastic and how this affects the oceans. This is to further increase our guests´ knowledge about these issues. Through the Young Explorer program, Hurtigruten introduce and engage young guests in beach cleanups, special lectures and other sustainability activities.
Hurtigruten is proud to engage, support and cooperate with organisations and initiatives like Clean Arctic Alliance, European Climate Foundation, Norwegian Polar Institute - the main research organisation focusing on polar bears living on Svalbard, Bellona Foundation and the Clean Up Svalbard program. In addition, we have established Hurtigruten Foundation to raise awareness and reward local and global initiatives that make a positive impact.
Managing waste and stopping spills
All waste on all our ships and hotels is of course sorted for recycling. Together with partners we work to install better sorting facilities on board and to ensure adequate infrastructure∘ at key ports to collect and recycle waste from our operations. We also work to influence ports and authorities to provide better waste management.
We maintain stringent policies regarding discharge into the sea, including a ban on discharging food waste, grey water, bilge water and black water in vulnerable areas. We are of course also in compliance with the Ballast Water Convention.
Reducing food waste through innovation
Food production monitoring
When serving over 4 million meals each year, even a tiny reduction in food waste can make a huge difference. For us, tiny is not enough. That’s why we have pledged to reduce food waste by 30 per cent by 2021. We have implemented a digital registration and real-time measurement of all stages of our food production to increase our knowledge and minimize food waste. Our early results show more than a 20 percent expected reduction in food waste.
Food systems sustainability efforts
Hurtigruten has signed a three-year agreement with the EAT foundation, whose mission is to catalyse a food system transformation through sound science, impatient disruption and novel partnerships. Our partnership∘ aims at exploring other initiatives to improve our sustainability efforts within food systems and broaden the on board food offering.
Food traceability
What we take out of the water is equally important. You should know where your food is coming from. When serving you a local cheese∘ in Lofoten, we can take you to the farm and meet the goats. Needless to say, Hurtigruten maintains a ban on all red-listed seafood, and we demand third party certification of all fish purchased (MSC, ASC or equivalent).