Those shipping recycled materials may find it harder to do so as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This is because the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has warned there is likely to be disruption to shipping routes because of the war.
With 14.5% of the global shipping workforce coming from Russia or Ukraine, these workers may not be available on the 74,000 vessels in the global merchant fleet.
This is because flights are no longer available from Russia or Ukraine for sailors to get to ports, but also because ship owners are not sending vessels to these countries because of high insurance premiums and fears over crew safety.
As a result, Russian and Ukrainian sailors are not able to join ships.
ICS secretary general Guy Platten also warned that ships need to be permitted to leave these newly dangerous shipping routes.
He said: “The conflict in Ukraine is having a significant impact upon the safety and security of seafarers and shipping in the area. As with COVID, seafarers are being exposed to issues not of their making. Multiple ships have been hit by munitions, seafarers have been killed and injured and seafarers of all nationalities are trapped on ships berthed in ports.
“It is of the utmost urgency that their evacuation from these areas of threat should be ensured by those States with the power to do so. The impact upon innocent seafarers and their families cannot be underestimated.
“ICS fully supports the establishment of a maritime corridor to allow the safe evacuation of ships that are currently unable to leave territorial waters in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. They must be allowed to depart the area of conflict and avoid further humanitarian incident.”
