Princess Cruises reinvents sustainability on water with impeccable recycling technologies onboard

Princess Cruises, a subsidiary of Florida-based Carnival Corporation, is vehemently advocating the cause for sustainable development. The company's motto has inspired it to introduce various green initiatives along its flagship watercraft. Proper recycling practices help create a circular economy around the end-of-life items onboard.

Carnival Corporation's 2022 Sustainability Report reveals that it has significantly decreased its greenhouse gas emissions since 2011, making it the only major cruise company to achieve this feat. Despite an expected 30% increase in capacity by 2023, Carnival has surpassed its 2030 carbon intensity reduction goal by targeting a 20% reduction in carbon intensity by 2026 compared to 2019. This represents a 40% reduction in carbon intensity compared to 2008. Princess has also outlined five environmental objectives to reduce fuel, waste, and water usage and implement solutions for cleaner power.

The President of Princess Cruises, John Padgett, expands on the company's ESG initiatives and promises to excel at any cost: "Oceans are our business. If we don't have healthy, vibrant oceans, we won't have a business. Our goal is to be compliant at the highest level of international standards of sustainability. And go beyond what is acceptable."

Princess takes great care to ensure that their policies meet or exceed the highest standards set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and other organizations responsible for environmental protection. They work closely with regulatory and enforcement communities to ensure that their regulations are always upheld. The United States Coast Guard and the Washington State Department of Ecology oversee and inspect cruise ships locally, ensuring the safety and protection of our environment.

The show Ocean Treks with Jeff Corwin was broadcast for four seasons and gave a perspective of the inside works of Princes Cruises. Afterwards, Jeff Corwin elucidated that the ship is the "largest smart city that just so happens to be on the water."

If we elaborate on Corwin's thoughts, it must be said that Princes does a commendable job of collecting, sorting and recycling end-of-life products found in the ship's dumping zone. This includes items like aluminium cans, aluminium packaging solutions, glass bottles and paper products. Princes Cruises flaunts an amazing recycling process that can extract the true value of the materials even after recycling. For example, the glass recycled onboard is crushed into sand to be used in golf courses, while aluminium cans are pressure-pressed into flat boards for reuse.

To give you a better purview of the company's recycling schedule, I am listing a few of their motivational ideations below:

• The ship has a detailed recycling process for various materials
• Cruise guests are encouraged to dispose of their waste in designated recycling bins
• Specially-trained staff sort and process the materials in an onboard recycling centre
• The centre uses state-of-the-art technology for efficient and environmentally friendly processing
• The recycling process involves crushing bottles into Golf course sand, turning cooking oil into biodiesel, compacting aluminium cans, and pressing plastics into blocks

To add a cherry atop, Princess has banned single-use plastics and uses technology to minimize its carbon footprint and reduce CO2 emissions throughout its operations. Princess cruises are epitomes of how businesses can operate sustainably without compromising the environment.