TUI Cruises, the Hamburg based premium market cruise line, said it has launched a programme to reduce the use of plastics on board its fleet.

By the end of the year 2020, plastic products and disposable items should be replaced on board the company’s vessels and in its offices and replaced by alternatives made by using renewable and sustainable materials, the company said in a statement.

As examples of the measures to be taken TUI Cruises mentioned drinking water in the cabins, which  will be served in glass carafes that can be refilled rather than in plastic bottles, which is the case now and shower gel that will be provided in containers that can be refilled rather than in small plastic bottles.

At the moment, in the cabins of the company’s vessels alone, about 900,000 plastic items are used each year.