Emirates Shipping Line stops carrying plastic waste from October
The Dubai carrier becomes the second container line to refuse cargo under HS code 3915
Emirates Shipping Line will stop accepting plastic waste shipments from 1 October, making the Dubai-based carrier the second container line to apply a blanket ban on the trade.
The carrier set out the decision in a customer advisory issued on 15 September. It will no longer take bookings for cargo classified under HS code 3915, the tariff heading covering waste, parings and scrap of plastics, citing its "dedication to safeguarding marine ecosystems and preserving biodiversity."
A single tariff heading is a blunt but workable instrument. HS 3915 is what shippers declare when they move mixed or sorted plastic scrap across borders, and refusing the code removes the line from the trade without requiring it to audit the end destination of each consignment. It also leaves room for reclassification, which is the enforcement problem every carrier that takes this step inherits.
The move follows sustained lobbying by the Basel Action Network, which has been working through the membership of the World Shipping Council to get carriers to withdraw from the trade. "ESL's decision marks another major milestone in the fight to end the export of harmful plastic waste to developing countries," said Christopher Hudak, senior policy adviser at the organisation, adding that the campaign is now calling on every other member of the council to follow.
The first carrier to move was CMA CGM, which stopped carrying plastic waste in 2022 after a campaign aimed at nine container lines. Four years on, the second name to follow is a mid-sized regional operator rather than one of the remaining majors, which is the measure of how slowly the commitment has spread.
The commercial exposure is limited. Plastic scrap is low-value, low-volume box cargo that moves largely from developed economies to south and southeast Asia, and the Basel Convention amendments in force since 2021 already require prior consent for most mixed plastic waste shipments. What a carrier ban adds is a refusal at the booking stage, before the regulatory question is reached.
This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 23 September 2026.
