Greener ship recycling options are emerging in South Asia. The European Union is close to adding more yards in Alang, India to its list of approved recycling facilities with discussions ongoing.
Moreover, a newly-minted EU agreement on waste shipments is set to remove a legal roadblock to make it possible for a raft of non-OECD ship recycling yards to be included on an EU-approved list, which would unleash much-needed shipbreaking capacity for a massive wave of tonnage due to be scrapped over the coming years, according to green recycling consultancy Sea Sentinels.
The European Parliament and Council have agreed to allow exports of hazardous waste, including that contained in EU-flagged ships, to non-OECD countries provided receiving facilities can document sustainable management and disposal of this waste in line with EU regulations under a proposed amendment to the EU Waste Shipment Regulation (WSR) expected to be ratified by year-end. This would be subject to the receiving facility being included on an EU-approved list.
Ships that are sold for recycling at the end of their lifetime contain hazardous materials such as asbestos, ODS, mercury and many others, as well as operational substances and waste including oil, fuel, ballast water and sludge, which constitute a risk both to human health and the environment if they are not managed and disposed of properly.
Exports of such waste in EU-flagged ships are currently banned by the EU under the Basel Convention on transboundary movements of hazardous waste, or Basel Ban, that is transposed into the WSR. In addition, the EU Ship Recycling Regulation (EUSRR) sets stringent standards for ship recycling and requires all EU-flagged vessels to be recycled at a facility on a list of approved yards.
“The latest EU agreement would represent a significant legal shift as it would open the way for many yards in non-OECD countries, which have applied for inclusion on the EU list and have been banging on the door for a very long time, to finally gain compliance with the EUSRR,” said Rakesh Bhargava, chief executive of Singapore-based Sea Sentinels.
Bhargava said there are as many as 32 recycling yards in non-OECD countries – including 27 in India and one in Bahrain – that have applied for EU approval, of which some have been subjected to preliminary audits for compliance with the EUSRR, along with eight yards in Turkey and one in the US.
In other significant shipbreaking news, Pakistan acceded to the Hong Kong Convention (HKC) at the IMO Assembly last week. The Pakistani government agreed to become a party to the recycling treaty.
“Recyclers at Gadani appear to be prepared to upgrade their facilities and practices to meet the HKC’s standards before the treaty enters into force,” Clarksons Research noted in its latest weekly report.
The convention’s entry into force requirement was met following Bangladesh and Liberia’s ratification earlier this year. It will enter into force in June 2025.
Industry body BIMCO has estimated more than 15,000 ships could be recycled over the next decade, twice the volume of the previous 10 years.
