Abstract
Food waste generation has received increasing attention in recent years. In this paper, we investigate the availability of information regarding food waste management on-board ships and describe how this information is communicated by companies operating passenger ships in the Baltic Sea. Furthermore, we summarize the aspects that influence efficient management of waste and identify pathways for food waste reduction on-board ships. The main three findings from this study are: (I) the information on waste handling at companies’ websites was to a large extent lacking. Food waste was mentioned in 22% of investigated ferry ship operator cases and in 32% of cruise ship operator cases. (II) In the interviews with environmental managers from two passenger ship companies, various aspects of food waste handling on-board ships were identified, which could be further grouped into technical, economic, management, legal and social categories. We suggest that the aspects of waste handling presented in this paper can serve as a framework for detection of the challenges and possibilities for different actors including shipping companies, ports and waste management agents. (III) The pathways towards efficient food waste handling may differ for individual ships, as it depends on vessel age, type of equipment and route schedules. The effort should be put in separating food waste from the rest of waste streams as it enables a clearer picture of the waste produced, increases the handling alternatives and may provide technological and economic benefits. Transparency and communication between the waste handling actors is the key in finding tailor-made solutions for treatment of ship-generated waste.
Highlights
Waterways play an important role in transportation
Sometimes separating the wastes on-board is not strictly based on the regulation but results from practical management as keeping apart soft food waste from the mixture of hard food waste and packaging (EMSA 2017). It occurs that the waste streams are mixed on-board and food waste is stored in grey water/sewage tank (EMSA 2017)
To complement the review and to get understanding on how food waste can be managed on-board ships, two semi-structured interviews were performed in January and April 2017 with environmental managers from two passenger ship companies active in the Baltic Sea region
Summary
Waterways play an important role in transportation. The world’s cargo and passenger ships are constantly getting bigger. It occurs that the waste streams are mixed on-board and food waste is stored in grey water/sewage tank (EMSA 2017). In such cases, the regulation states that mixture should be handled as it is composed of the component that has the strictest rules concerning sea-discharge (IMO 2012). In case of the Baltic Sea, the cruise shipping industry voluntarily committed to be more restrictive than current law in terms of discharging sewage and grey water; no commitment was stated regarding discharge of food waste (CLIA 2016b). Other hand, food waste having EU origin can be used for biogas production onshore or for other purposes usually applied for land-based waste
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