Ship scrapping/recycling
MEPs vote to strengthen rules to curb reckless beaching of old ships
The European Parliament's environment committee today voted to revise EU legislation on the recycling of ships. The committee supported proposals by Green draftsperson Carl Schlyter to strengthen the proposed legislation, with a view to preventing the beaching of old ships in non-OECD countries. Commenting after the vote, Green MEP and EP draftsperson Carl Schlyter (Sweden) stated:
"Today's vote will hopefully put an end to European ships being recklessly scrapped in developing countries. Currently, most EU ships are sent to South-East Asia at the end of their lives, where they are beached, with their hazardous materials leaking into the environment and causing unacceptable conditions for human health and the environment. This is not only an opprobrious practise, it circumvents EU rules under which the export of hazardous waste to non-OECD countries is outlawed.
"MEPs have today voted to create various forms of financial incentives to safely scrap ships, including a scrapping fund financed by the industry itself. This would steer ships that trade with the EU into proper ship recycling facilities. We hope that this will now be included in the final legislation."
