When the world’s largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, debuts next year, it will have technology on board that will turn food waste into energy.
Royal Caribbean will introduce the next generation of technology on cruise ships when Icon of the Seas begins sailing to the Caribbean from Miami in early 2024. The cruise ship will have the industry’s first systems to turn solid waste directly into energy on board.
“I am proud of Royal Caribbean Group’s drive to SEA the Future and be better tomorrow than we are today,” said Jason Liberty, president and CEO, Royal Caribbean Group. “Pioneering the first waste-to-energy system on a cruise ship builds on our track record of waste management and furthers our commitment to remove waste from local landfills and deliver great vacation experiences responsibly.”
Royal Caribbean Group is also looking at waste management from start to finish, including its plans to reduce food waste across the fleet by 50% by 2025. To do so, the cruise company is implementing initiatives across its brands including:
- Developing a proprietary platform to monitor food supply and accurately estimate how much food should be produced, prepped and ordered on a given day.
- Using artificial intelligence (AI) to adjust food production in real time.
Introducing a dedicated onboard food waste role to monitor and train crew members. - Tracking guest demand for specific menu items and adjusting menu preparation and ordering accordingly.
- Partnering with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to introduce a food waste awareness campaign in the crew dining areas fleetwide.
- To date, Royal Caribbean Group has achieved a 24% reduction in food waste by focusing on the frontend of the food system, which prevents and addresses many of the main causes of food waste, including inventory management and over-preparing.
Icon of the Seas will be the largest cruise ship ever built at over 250,000 gross tons. The ship will debut in January 2024 and sail week long cruises to the Eastern and Western Caribbean from Miami. View Cruises Offered on Icon of the Seas
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