Technical and economic and environmental feasibility of an innovative integrated system of management and treatment of waste on board

The cruise passenger ship market is one of the most developing sectors globally. In order to satisfy the ever increasing demand from tourism, the number of ships and their size have been exponentially growing. As a result, the impact on environment caused by the increased marine traffic represents one of the most current problem worldwide. The necessity of developing new eco-friendly and sustainable technologies has led to study the technical, economic and environmental feasibility of an innovative integrated waste management and treatment system on modern cruise passenger ships. The benefits of the new configuration compared to the traditional one have been identified by analysing the entire waste chain, from on board production to final disposal, through the various energy recovery and treatment phases. Consideration has been given to the potentiality of waste addressed to treatment, flows, mass and energy balances, and operation of the system, defining technologically advanced and innovative systems and their application scenarios, with particular attention to safety and hygiene in rooms on board involved in the process. Finally, the environmental sustainability, referring to the existing regulations both in IMO and in existing mooring ports involved in the disposal of residual waste, and the economic outcomes of the innovative configuration have been analysed and evaluated.