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Costa Pacifica pioneers bid to beat onboard waste

Costa Cruises is piloting a programme to reduce, recycle and reuse on-board waste.

It is project managing a Sustainable Cruise project, co-funded by the European Commission, in a first for the cruise industry.

Costa Pacifica is the first ship to trial the waste-beating experiment

Three waste streams on board the Costa Pacifica – packaging, biodegradable waste and paper – are being treated so that they can be reduced, recycled and reused as by-products.

The 114,500-ton Costa Pacifica was chosen as the first ship to trial the first ever shipboard experimental project involving the use of innovative techniques to reduce waste at the source.

The scope of the project goes beyond shipboard application and also includes coordination with European port waste disposal facilities to increase opportunities for recycling and reuse.

The Sustainable Cruise project also aims to set up a new voluntary certification scheme for shipboard waste treatment and its effects in terms of CO2 reductions – possibly paving the way for the introduction of specific EU environmental legislation for shipping.

“We are very proud to be managing this highly innovative project on board the Costa Pacifica, which will be the pilot ship for new models of management of certain types of solid waste,” says Costa Cruises’ vice president Ernesto Gori.

“The fact that we are the first cruise company in the world to carry out such a landmark experiment, which will lead to even higher standards in the treatment of shipboard waste, is further tangible evidence of our environmental excellence.”

The Sustainable Cruise project dovetails with Costa Cruises’ own waste management policy, which has been applied fleet-wide for some time now.

Costa has a policy of 100 per cent separation of solid waste on board, with separate storage and disposal of the following seven streams: glass, plastic, metal, food, paper, ceramics and aluminum.