Carnival Corporation announced on Wednesday, December 11, it is pilot-testing food waste bio-digester technology in order to improve environmental compliance and food waste disposal process onboard its ships and intends to expand the new program across the fleet in the near future.
The innovation in green technology at sea features a number of benefits, including:
- providing centralized and more efficient onsite food waste operations;
- separating the small pieces of plastics as well as other debris that can find its way in food waste for sustained environmental compliance;
- enhancing onboard public health and reducing the ship’s carbon footprint via natural and automated processing of food waste.
The bio-digesters reduce the cruise ship’s carbon footprint via using an aerobic digestion process, taking place within the machines and breaking down food particles, releasing an environmentally safe liquid. This limits the greenhouse gas emitted from the conventional food waste processing systems and helps reduce the environmental impact of the company.
Currently being evaluated on fifteen ships with twelve more scheduled in coming months across 7 of the corporation’s 9 brands – CCL-Carnival, Costa, Cunard, Holland America, P&O UK, Princess and Seabourn – food waste bio-digesters are successfully used for food waste management at some hotels, restaurants, government facilities, theme parks, stadiums, and other locations.