Biowaste collection and treatment system in the Port of Tallinn

Improvement of the source separation and treatment of ship-generated biowaste in the Port of Tallinn. The project developer is AS Green Marine, which is responsible for providing waste management services for all ships visiting the Port of Tallinn. The aim of the project is to improve the source separation and treatment of ship-generated biowaste in the Port of Tallinn. The focus is on food waste generated on cruise ships (more than 300 cruise ships call at the Port of Tallinn each year with more than 440,000 cruise passengers) and passenger vessels (regular ferry lines – Tallink, Ekerö Line, etc. with more than 7 million passengers each year). Large cruise and passenger ships are capable of generating massive volumes of waste. Solid waste generated by these ships include large volumes of food waste, cans, glass, wood, cardboard, paper and plastic. A typical cruise ship generates eight tonnes of solid waste per week.

The project focuses on the development of a separate collection and treatment system for ship-generated food waste. The following technological steps are included:

- Collection system on ships – including specially designed collection containers;
- Centralised storage and pre-treatment technology for collected biowaste.

Expected outcome:

Today, most ship-generated biowaste is landfilled (approximately 6,000 tonnes of food waste each year) together with mixed waste. The project will lead to a significant diversion of biowaste from landfill. After the completion of the project (separate collection and treatment of biowaste) other waste (mainly packaging waste) can also be recycled or recovered. This will allow the recovery of almost all waste generated by the passenger ships that hand over their waste in the Port of Tallinn.

Improvement of waste management system: ca. 2,200 t of biowaste sent to be recycled per year
.