MIAMI, Dec. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival
Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the
world's largest leisure travel company, today announced it is
pilot-testing food waste bio-digester technology to improve
environmental compliance and the food waste disposal process on
board its ships, and plans to expand the program across its fleet
in the near future.
The new innovation in green technology at sea provides a number
of benefits, including:
- separating the small pieces of plastics and other debris that
can occasionally find its way into food waste for sustained
environmental compliance;
- providing more efficient and centralized onsite food waste
operations;
- and enhancing onboard public health as well as reducing a
ship's carbon footprint by automated and natural processing of food
waste.
The bio-digesters reduce a ship's carbon footprint by using an
aerobic digestion process that takes place within the machines and
efficiently breaks down food particles, releasing a translucent,
environmentally safe liquid. This limits the amount of greenhouse
gas emitted from conventional food waste processing systems,
helping reduce the company's environmental impact.
Currently being evaluated on 15 ships with 12 more ships
scheduled in coming months across seven of the corporation's nine
cruise line brands – Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises,
Cunard, Holland America Line, P&O Cruises (UK), Princess
Cruises and Seabourn – food waste bio-digesters are used for
successful food waste management at some restaurants, hotels,
government facilities, stadiums, theme parks and other locations.
The bio-digester systems in Carnival Corporation's pilot test are
among the first systems of this kind to be tested on a cruise
ship.
Throughout the day, as food scraps are added to the system, a
mix of microorganisms, including microbes and enzymes, rapidly and
naturally digest the organic waste. The machines operate 24 hours a
day, allowing for continuous food "digestion."
"Think of a food waste bio-digester as a large, stainless steel
stomach that digests food waste – if you can feed it to people, you
can feed it into a digester," said Chris
Donald, senior vice president of corporate environmental
compliance at Carnival Corporation. "Since we serve meals to
millions of guests each year, this new green technology can help us
significantly reduce our environmental impact and carbon footprint,
while also greatly improving our ability to manage non-food waste,
including plastics. We have already seen positive results and
significant benefits from these systems, which are technologically
advanced yet simple to use. We are excited to continue evaluating
different digesters and are currently planning to expand the use of
these systems across our fleet as part of our commitment to
environmental excellence."
Carnival Corporation is testing three different bio-digester
machines, including systems that can evaluate a variety of
parameters and produce valuable data, including the weight and
volume of food waste digested, the net food waste reduced and the
amount of CO2 reduced, among others. Equally important
is that all of these parameters can be automatically uploaded to a
cloud server and remotely monitored around the clock by shipboard
and shore-side employees.
Food waste bio-digesters are placed in strategic areas such as a
ship's galley, allowing for more convenient and efficient food
waste processing at the source. Bio-digesters in the pilot feature
a screen filter at the bottom of each machine that captures any
small plastics and other non-organic debris accidentally mixed with
food waste, a feature that improves environmental compliance. The
green technology also supports and enhances operations onboard,
making it more efficient for crew members to manage and control
food waste.
In 2017, the company achieved its 25% carbon reduction goal
three years ahead of schedule, and is on track with its nine other
2020 sustainability targets for reducing its environmental
footprint while enhancing the health, safety and security of its
guests and crew members, and ensuring sustainable business
practices among its nine brands, business partners and
suppliers.
Said Carnival Corporation's Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer
Peter Anderson: "These investments
in innovative green technology are part of a broader corporate
strategy which includes an enhanced commitment to further improve
the corporation's environmental performance and overall commitment
to compliance."
The company has used other complementary technologies to achieve
ecological advantages – including launching the world's first-ever
cruise ships powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), pioneering the
use of Advanced Air Quality Systems on board its ships and
promoting the use of shore power.
Added Anderson: "All of these efforts are part of our deep
commitment to promoting safety, environmental protection and
overall compliance."
About Carnival Corporation
& plc
Carnival Corporation & plc is the
world's largest leisure travel company and among the most
profitable and financially strong in the cruise and vacation
industries, with a portfolio of nine of the world's leading cruise
lines. With operations in North America, Australia,
Europe and Asia, its
portfolio features Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland
America Line, Seabourn, P&O Cruises (Australia), Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises,
P&O Cruises (UK) and Cunard.
Together, the corporation's cruise lines
operate 105 ships with 254,000 lower berths
visiting over 700 ports around the world, with 16 new
ships scheduled to be delivered through 2025. Carnival
Corporation & plc also operates Holland America Princess
Alaska Tours, the leading tour company in Alaska and the
Canadian Yukon. Traded on both the New York and London
Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the only
group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the
FTSE 100 indices.
With a long history of innovation and providing guests with
extraordinary vacation experiences, Carnival Corporation has
received thousands of industry awards – including recognition by
the Consumer Technology Association™ as a CES® 2019 Innovation
Awards Honoree for the OceanMedallion™. A revolutionary wearable
device that contains a proprietary blend of communication
technologies, the OceanMedallion enables the world's first
interactive guest experience platform transforming vacation travel
on a large scale into a highly personalized level of customized
service. The prestigious CES Innovation Awards honor outstanding
design and engineering in consumer technology products.
Additional information can be found
on www.carnival.com, www.princess.com,
www.hollandamerica.com, www.seabourn.com, www.pocruises.com.au, www.costacruise.com,
www.aida.de, www.pocruises.com,
and www.cunard.com.
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SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc