Thank you. It's a pleasure to meet you virtually. I look forward to meeting you in person when time permits.
As I mentioned in my remarks, the cruise line industry has been investing billions of dollars, literally, in advanced technologies, which then later are adopted by the rest of the shipping industry. Cruise tends to dominate public attention, but it represents less than 1% of ocean-going vessels. It's really where the research and innovation take place. We are at the leading edge in making advances in technology, and then they are adopted in other sectors in the maritime industry.
Over the years, we've greatly reduced the amount of waste that's generated on board. The recycling programs are second to none. There are occasionally challenges due to made-in-Canada regulations that we have to deal with, which sometimes limit the amount of recycling we're able to do, and trying to make sure that other objectives don't get in the way of enhanced recycling targets is an ongoing work in progress. Our member lines are very proud of their record in terms of the percentage that's recycled and the waste that's avoided.
Virtually all of our ships, especially on the west coast, have what's known as advanced waste-water treatment systems, which are far superior to many municipal waste-water treatment plants.
I was the minister of environment when British Columbia required Victoria to start treating its sewage. It always struck me as a bit ironic that the cruise ships were performing to a much higher standard than our provincial capital wanted at the time. There was some opposition to my order that they had to start treating the sewage, but we've overcome that, and now Victoria does have advanced waste-water treatment on about par with what's happening on the cruise ships. I can't say the same for the city of Vancouver, where there's still primary sewage treatment.
The environmental performance that you see on board cruise ships exceeds, as I mentioned, many of the waste-water treatment systems operated by municipalities in various parts of Canada.
Along the way, we've made other efforts in terms of energy reduction so that less energy is required to operate the ships on a per-passenger basis, and we're constantly looking for innovations, whether it's LED lighting or more efficient heating and cooling systems on board the ships.
Now, working through the International Maritime Organization with the 2050 zero-emissions target, we're seeing changes in operations of the cruise ships, including slowdowns. Operating at lower speeds overall tends to reduce the amount of fuel consumed over the length of a cruise, whether it's four days or seven days. One of the unintended consequences of that, though, is that the cruise ships sometimes have less time that they can spend in port. If they're moving more slowly between ports, they can't spend as much time in the ports. That's been noticeable in Victoria, and that message has been heard.