Dive Brief:
- CMA CGM launched a program that incentivizes shippers to return their containers early in exchange for carbon credits, according to an announcement last Thursday.
- Shippers will receive 2.5 tons of carbon credits for every dry and refrigerated container returned during the first four calendar days, the release said. Containers must originate from a list of nearly 20 Asian countries, and can be returned at any ocean terminal where the carrier receives empties.
- CMA CGM’s incentive program began Oct. 1 and will run until Dec. 30. Credits will go toward expanding forestry, supporting urban resilience projects and creating additional carbon offset projects in the U.S
Dive Insight:
Carriers are working to encourage shippers to quickly move their goods as major ports threaten fees on long-dwelling cargo. The Port of New York and New Jersey imposed a fee structure Oct. 1 that requires carriers to balance inbound and outbound container volumes.
CMA CGM’s incentive program, called TEUs to Trees, is the carrier’s latest effort to expedite the flow of cargo at ports. The company offered shippers $300 for containers returned to certain locations from May to July.
The sustainability incentives are meant to support shippers’ on their own environmental goals while also increasing equipment availability.
“Encouraging customers to return boxes sooner provides additional containers and chassis for export bookings, and the type of incentive we are offering will result in the formation of new socio-environmental projects right here in the United States,” Ed Aldridge, president of CMA CGM and APL in North America, said in a statement.
More carriers are leveraging carbon credits as a perk for shippers as companies face more pressure to respond to climate change. J.B. Hunt introduced a program that allows shippers to request to offset emissions from certain shipments, or identify entire lanes they’d like to be carbon neutral.
