Virgin Voyages and Emerald Brand announced a strategic sustainability partnership in order to deliver Virgin Voyages’ Sailors a Tree-Free and plastic-free onboard experience. The partnership starts on Scarlet Lady, scheduled to set sail in 2020.
Virgin is one of the first major cruise companies to ban Sailor-facing, single-use plastic. The goal is to fully embed sustainability into the cruise business model via their operations and Sailor experience.
In addition to replacing their single-use plastics with reusable items, Emerald and Virgin will deliver a Tree-Free experience via the vessel’s disposable paper products. Facial tissue, bath tissue, paper towels, napkins, and hot cups, will be made from 60%-100% Tree-Free material. The products are made with technology which uses the by-product of agricultural crops typically wasted or burned, in place of trees.
In addition to offering Tree-Free and plastic-free products to the cruise ships, Emerald’s team, known commonly as the Eco-Squad, are expected to help Virgin Voyages communicate and measure the environmental footprint reduction which has resulted from the switch to the new products. The Eco-Squad will provide solutions for continuous improvement.