The shipping industry is heavily reliant on fuel and steel. And with steel comprising roughly 98% of the volume of a container ship, companies are reliant on the supply of low-cost steel that usually is produced in a linear way in China and India.

Currently, when maintenance and technological improvements are no longer the cost beneficial or practical choice, and a Maersk ship is withdrawn, it is taken to a shipbreaking yard in China where it goes through a recycling procedure. However, due to scale of the product and the vast number of different component suppliers, it  has not been possible to identify different material types and grades during this traditional disassembly process, so the mixed recyclate loses the quality, properties and value of its previous state (EMF).

Maersk Line have developed a Cradle-to-Cradle Passport for their ships. The Passport, a first for the shipping industry, will consist of an online database to create a detailed inventory that can be used to identify and recycle the components to a higher quality than is currently possible. Maersk Line this way gains a better understanding of the composition of the ship when it at the end of its life enters the recycling yard. The materials can be sorted and processed more effectively and this way also maintain their original properties /quality and be re-sold at a better price.

The Cradle to Cradle Passport enables more useful disassembly and recycling information at the planning and design phase. But it also has the potential of having a large and vital effect on the way in which steel is arranged globally due to the scale of material under discussion.

Information from: https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-examples/using-product-passports-to-improve-the-recovery-and-reuse-of-shipping-steel