Cial and Costa Cruises join forces for aluminium recycling on cruise ships

Environment · Rudi Bressa · 2016-02-15

4 million cans a year recycled aboard one of Costa's largest cruise ships. “Every cycle saves 95 per cent of the energy”.

You could build 722,000 moka coffee pots with the aluminium recovered since 2007 thanks to the "Message in can" project, carried out by Cial (Consorzio imballaggi alluminio), Costa Cruises and the Port Authority of Savona. A recovery and recycling project aboard the Italian company's cruise ships, which over the years has collected no fewer than 334 tonnes of aluminium, equivalent to 27 million cans.

alluminio — One of the compactors on board the Costa Diadema. © Costa Crociere/Cial

"If we look at the numbers, Costa ships are small cities. Around 6,000 people living together," explains Stefania Lallai, director of sustainability and external relations at Costa Cruises. "The project we are presenting today is a perfect example of collaboration between different organisations, which has led us to recover an extremely valuable material." The ship is equipped with a compactor that literally crushes the cans into small bales which, once the ship arrives in port at Savona, are sent for recycling by Cial.

The Costa Diadema at the port of Savona. This ship can accommodate 6,000 passengers — a small town.

Cans ready to be compacted. © Costa Crociere/Cial

The compactor, present on every ship. © Costa Crociere/Cial

What remains of the cans once they have been pressed. © Costa Crociere/Cial

Preparing the packaging for transporting the aluminium "bales". © Costa Crociere/Cial

The packaged cans, ready to be transported to the nearest processing centre. © Costa Crociere/Cial

The aluminium "bales" are ready to be sent for recycling. © Costa Crociere/Cial

Separate waste collection aboard the Costa Diadema. © Costa Crociere/Cial

Consumption goes up on holiday. Each passenger consumes an average of 100 cans a year, compared with an average of 30 during the rest of the year. © Costa Crociere/Cial

Thousands of cans are consumed on every cruise. © Costa Crociere/Cial

Cans fresh out of the compactor. © Rudi Bressa

Costa Diadema ready to set sail from the port of Savona. © Rudi Bressa

Recycling aluminium cans helps cut energy consumption

"One particularly interesting piece of data is that on a cruise you're on holiday, you're more relaxed. We have recorded that while a person normally consumes around 30 cans a year, here the figure rises to 100," notes Gino Schiona, general director of Cial. "We are therefore talking about 4 million cans a year," figures that have a major impact on the reduction of energy and emissions.

"A particularly important project because at every production cycle it is possible to save 95 per cent of the energy, producing only 5 per cent of the emissions compared with what would be generated starting from raw material," Schiona continues.

The project has also had a social value, because it has educated both the passengers on board — who are encouraged to sort their waste correctly, aided by the presence of appropriate collection bins — and the crew: the financial consideration recognised by Cial for the material delivered is paid directly by Costa to the staff who carry out the aluminium recovery operations after collection.

A true virtuous cycle, embodying what is the first separate waste collection project with raw material recovery in the maritime sector.