Costa Cruises released its 2015 Sustainability Report detailing the company’s sustainability efforts based on responsible innovation and the creation of value which enabled it to meet its corporate goal in the environmental field, to reduce its energy consumption by 4.8 percent year on year and its carbon footprint by 2.3 percent year on year in 2015.
The Sustainability Report, entitled “Sea You Tomorrow – On course for the future”, highlights the main sustainability results achieved by the company in 2015.
Environmental protection, shared value creation and responsible innovation are the cornerstones on which Costa Cruises has built its sustainability initiatives, described in the Report in three sections titled “Sea”, “You” and “Tomorrow”. The document sets out Costa’s path to sustainable growth, the main projects carried out and the key goals reached on the route to complete integration of sustainability aspects into its business model, its blueprint for the future.
Costa Cruises is committed first and foremost to minimizing the environmental impact of its operations; it does this by means of a series of ship energy efficiency projects aimed at reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, protection of water resources and recycling of waste.
The main results in the environmental field obtained in 2015 were:
(year-on-year % reduction)
• 3% decrease in fuel consumption per passenger/day
• 2.3 % reduction in the company’s carbon footprint
• emission reductions: 11% in SOx and 3% in NOx and PMs
• installation on 7 ships, equivalent to 46.6% of the fleet, of the ECO Exhaust Gas Cleaning system, industry-leading technology with a filtering system that can remove more than 90% of pollutants from the exhaust gases irrespective of the ship’s operating condition
• 4.8 % reduction in energy consumption
• 100% of shipboard waste collected and separated for disposal and recycling
• 69% of the water required was produced directly on board, which works out to a year-on-year 7% increase.
In addition to the important results listed above, Costa Cruises renewed its long-standing commitment to protection of the biodiversity and the different ecosystems wherever the ships sail; more specifically, in 2015 Costa partnered the Whalesafe Life+ project for conservation of sperm whales in the waters in the vicinity of the port of Savona and beyond, and also worked in partnership with CNR – ISMAR (Italian National Research Council – Institute of Marine Sciences) to further the cause of research in the fields of oceanography and marine science.
The company also focused on reduction, reuse and recovery of materials and products on board with the involvement of guests and crew members, for example by means of the multi-year partnership with CiAl (Consorzio Imballaggi Alluminio, Italy’s National Consortium for the Recovery and Recycling of Aluminum). From 2007 through 2015 approximately 334 metric tons of aluminum was collected on board for recycling. In addition, this alliance led to the implementation of a major project called “Message in a can”, engaging the township of Savona in the separate collection of aluminum and thus constituting another example of initiatives designed to foster best practices associated with the development of the “circular economy”.
Future Plans
Looking ahead to the future, Costa Cruises continues to pre-empt the industry by introducing pioneering and sustainable solutions, guided by the commitment to invest in the gradual integration of sustainability aspects in terms of both ship technology and evolution of the offer fleetwide; this includes an increasing focus on the need to ensure a balanced diet on board.
One of the main features of Costa’s plans for the future is the current construction of the first cruise ships to be powered at sea by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), the world’s cleanest burning fossil fuel; these new builds are due for delivery in 2019 and 2021. The introduction of newer and more fuel-efficient vessels – constituting a model of excellence – is facilitated by recent improvements in the regulatory framework and in the availability of gas bunkering infrastructure.
Further details may be found by reading the Sustainability Report below
Source & Image credits: Costa Cruises