special wastes
Much of hte waste from our shipboard operation is common, everday trash that requires resource management-to minimize the amounts-and labor and space to move it, sort it, store it, and ultimately recycle or dispose of it. However, there are activities which generate waste that requires special handling.
These wastes include a variety of products and chemicals, some of which are universally considered hazardous and others simply require special handling. These are both liquid and solid wastes. The list includes: cleaners and chemicals, some of which have expired or are excess; spent fluorescent lights and ballasts; batteries of all types; paints, thinners and cleaning supplies supplies for painting: dry cleaning wastes: explosives, both those which are used to entertain and things like flares used in emergencies: photo and print shop wastes; oily rags and sludges; and medical wastes.
Because ships move, the management of these wastes becomes more complicated than for land-based activities, as the facilities and laws change with the location of the ship. Moreover, waste management ultimately becomes a local activity. This means that international, national and local laws may all apply to the management and disposal of these wastes. In the United States, RCRA (the Resouce Consevation and Recovery Act) generally govems the handling and disposal of these wastes. Each special waste is stored separately, in a container which is appropriate to the waste. The amount and type of waste, along with the disposal method and company, is documented based upon the regulatory requirements where the waste is offloaded from the ship.
The local port infastructure, availability of service providers, and the quality of desposal facilities play a major role in the management of wastes requiring special handling. To ensure that the company uses the best services available, both for price and quality, special wastes are offloaded only in fourteen ports world-wode (except for the Royal Journeys): Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Cape Canaveral, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Honolulu, Boston, New York City, San Juan, Vancouver (British Columbia), Harwich (Great Britain), Barcelona, and Stockholm. Staff from the company inspect and audit all waste management firms used to handle and dispose of these wastes to ensure that they are in compliance with applicable requirements for exsample, the US RCRA requirements.
These are many special wastes which include valuable, reusable reurable resouces, and there are recycling oppotunities for many of these wastes. Notable examples are silver from photo processing, mercury from fluorescent light bulbs, and heavy metals from various types of batteries. This recycling yields significant benefits. For example, 63 pounds of mercury is reconered from fluorescent lights in a year.
