Draft regulations designed to make ship scrapping in
EU-approved facilities competitive.
The European Parliament’s Environment
Committee has introduced revised regulations designed to encourage obsolete
vessels to be recycled in European Union (EU)-approved facilities throughout
the world. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) also proposed that the
scheme be funded by a recycling levy that would make scrapping ships in
EU-approved facilities cost-competitive. Owners of EU ships would face
penalties if they sold them to be scrapped in a developing country.
“Today’s vote will hopefully put an end to
EU ships being recklessly scrapped in developing countries,” says Carl
Schlyter, who is steering the legislation within Parliament. “Currently, most
EU ships are sent to Southeast Asia at the end of their lives, where they are
beached and their hazardous materials harm human health and the environment.
“MEPs have voted by a very large majority
to create financial incentives to scrap ships safely, including a recycling
fund financed by the industry itself,” Schlyter continues. “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.”
The law would apply to EU ships. However,
several of the provisions, including the recycling levy, would also apply to
any ship calling at a port or anchorage of an EU member state.
Member states would be required to ensure
that an inventory of hazardous materials is established on board each EU ship.
Non-EU ships entering a port or an anchorage of a member state would also have
to have a hazardous materials inventory on board. If an inspection showed that
the condition of ship does not comply with the inventory, penalties could be
imposed.
To help make the scheme economically
viable, a recycling fund should be set up, says the committee. Both EU and
non-EU ships would be able to use the fund, which would be financed, in line
with a “polluter pays” principle, by a recycling levy to be charged for any
port call by EU or non-EU ships. Ship owners could choose between an annual
recycling levy, directly payable to the fund, and a fee per port call, which
would be collected by port authorities.
Ships would be exempted from paying the
recycling levy if their owners deposited a financial guarantee to ensure that
they use EU-listed facilities for recycling and treatment. Charging the levy on
port calls would make it impossible to evade by re-registering a ship outside
the EU, according to the European Parliament.
The draft regulation also calls for
penalties to be imposed on owners of EU ships that are sold and sent, within 12
months of the sale, for recycling on a beach or in a facility not on the EU
list.
Parliament as a whole will vote on the
measures at a forthcoming plenary session on a mandate for negotiations with EU
ministers.
Source: recycling
today. 4 April 2013
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