cruise ships do solid waste with their garbage.
what do cruise ships do with their garbage?
solid waste
cruise ships generate a number of waste streams that can result in discharges to the marine environment, including sewage, graywater, hazardous wastes, oily bilge water, ballast water, and solid waste. they also emit air pollutants to the air and water. these wastes, if not properly treated and disposed of, can be a significant source of pathogens, nutrients, and toxic substances with the potential to threaten human health and damage aquatic life. cruise ships represent a small — although highly visible — portion of the entire international shipping industry, and the waste streams described here are not unique to cruise ships. however, particular types of wastes, such as sewage, graywater, and solid waste, may be of greater concern for cruise ships relative to other seagoing vessels, because of the large numbers of passengers and crew that cruise ships carry and the large volumes of wastes that they produce. further, because cruise ships tend to concentrate their activities in specific coastal areas and visit the same ports repeatedly (especially florida, california, new york city, galveston, seattle, and the waters of alaska), their cumulative impact on a local scale could be significant, as can impacts of individual large-volume releases (either accidental or intentional).
cruise ship pollution in the united states
solid waste generated on a ship includes glass, paper, cardboard, aluminium and steel cans, and plastics. it can be either non-hazardous or hazardous in nature. solid waste that enters the ocean may become marine debris, and can then pose a threat to marine organisms, humans, coastal communities, and industries that utilize marine waters. cruise ships typically manage solid waste by a combination of source reduction, waste minimization, and recycling. however, as much as 75 percent of solid waste is incinerated on board, and the ash typically is discharged at sea, although some is landed ashore for disposal or recycling. marine mammals, fish, sea turtles, and birds can be injured or killed from entanglement with plastics and other solid waste that may be released or disposed off of cruise ships. on average, each cruise ship passenger generates at least two pounds of non-hazardous solid waste per day. with large cruise ships carrying several thousand passengers, the amount of waste generated in a day can be massive. for a large cruise ship, about 8 tons of solid waste are generated during a one-week cruise. it has been estimated that 24 percent of the solid waste generated by vessels worldwide (by weight) comes from cruise ships. most cruise ship garbage is treated on board (incinerated, pulped, or ground up) for discharge overboard. when garbage must be off-loaded (for example, because glass and aluminium cannot be incinerated), cruise ships can put a strain on port reception facilities, which are rarely adequate to the task of serving a large passenger vessel.
environmental impact of shipping