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Protecting the world's oceans and the rich marine life they support is a way of life, and a way of doing business, for Royal Caribbean International. This commitment is the foundation of Save the Waves, a comprehensive environmental protection program established in 1992.
Save the Waves' three key principles are to:
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Reduce the creation or generation of waste material |
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Recycle as much as possible; and |
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Ensure the proper disposal of any remaining waste. |
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Waste Reduction
The key to a sound waste management program is finding ways to reduce the amount of waste material that's being created. Royal Caribbean International has taken significant measures over the years to reduce the volume of ship-generated waste that must be processed.
Agreements are in place with our suppliers to control the volume of material delivered to ships that must be processed as waste. In addition, all disposable plastic items typically available to our guests, such as shampoo bottles, plastic plates and flatware, have been eliminated.
Finally, Royal Caribbean is committed to the pledge that nothing goes overboard.
Special Wastes
Many waste products generated onboard our ships must be handled with special care. These waste products include used paints and thinners, medical waste, dry-cleaning fluids, aerosol cans, used butane lighters and old batteries.
These wastes are never disposed of in trash containers, in the ships' sinks and drains, or in the ships' toilet systems.
Disposal of Remaining Wastes
Modern equipment and strict enforcement of our regulations allow Royal Caribbean ships to have a zero-discharge policy for solid wastes.
We safely store all solid waste until it can be incinerated or taken to a suitable disposal site on land. Our disposal of liquid wastes is done in an environmentally friendly manner that exceeds recognized standards of marine operations. Food waste is pulped and discharged in waters more than 12 nautical miles from land - a distance far exceeding international regulations.
Environmental Training
An environmental officer is assigned to each ship to manage its overall environmental program. These officers receive specialized training to prepare them for overseeing and verifying all environmental systems, equipment, procedures and crew training. In addition, all our crew members receive instruction about their responsibilities in support of the Save the Waves program within the first few hours onboard a Royal Caribbean ship. At the end of their initial training, new crew members must sign a pledge to uphold their responsibilities to protect the environment. Crew members also must be able to explain the concept behind Save the Waves to our guests.
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