The agreement reached between the Presidency and European Parliament on the Ship Recycling Regulation concluded six months of intensive negotiations under the Irish EU Presidency. Over 1,000 ships a year are recycled worldwide. Contrary to most other waste streams, ships generally have a significant financial value at end-of-life. Steel is the main material extracted in the recycling process but older ships, in particular, also contain many hazardous substances including asbestos and heavy metals. Much of the recycling is carried out in facilities that lack sufficient safety measures or environmental protection for workers, which leads to high accident rates and extensive pollution.
It is intended that the new Regulation will provide a much-needed stimulus to raise standards for recycling all ships, in the interim period before the entry into force of the 2009 Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships. The Regulation covers the whole life-cycle of EU-flagged ships and transposes for the EU the requirements of the Hong Kong Convention. The Regulation is the first legislative instrument adopted at regional level in respect of this significant waste stream containing hazardous substances.
The new EU ship recycling regime comprises the following main elements:
- EU ship owners will be required to only recycle ships at facilities on the EU approved list, either in the EU or in third countries;
- in order to be on the EU approved list, ship recycling facilities must comply with the minimum requirements of the regulation as to worker health and safety procedures and environmental protection;
- ship recycling facilities must be approved by national authorities in the case of EU facilities and by independent verifiers with appropriate qualifications in the case of non-EU facilities. Such non-EU facilities must remain open to inspection by EU inspectors in order to verify their ongoing compliance with the requirements of the regulation;
- ships will be required to maintain an inventory of hazardous materials on board at all times;
- ships entering EU ports are to be open to inspections by port state control authorities to verify the maintenance of the inventory;
- EU ships will be subject to surveys at 5-yearly intervals after being put in service;
- owners of EU ships will be required to engage an approved ship recycling facility to prepare a “ship recycling plan” prior to recycling, such plan to include how hazardous materials in the ship structure are to be managed and which shall be submitted to the flag state administration;
- flag state administrations will issue a “ready for recycling” certificate before authorising the recycling of EU ships, having - (i) verified that the hazardous materials inventory has been properly maintained, (ii) approved the ship recycling plan, and (iii) verified that the ship recycling facility where the ship is to be recycled is included in the EU approved list; and
- the ship re cycling facility must confirm the completion of the recycling of the ship to the EU flag state administration.
I am confident that the new regulation will be effective and make a positive contribution to the proper recycling of EU ships which can be followed globally. I also hope that this new EU regulation will act as an important stimulus to facilitate the early ratification of the Hong Kong Convention on Ship Recycling which was adopted in 2009 and that, on foot of this EU initiative, other global regions will follow the EU lead in respect of this important waste stream.
