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."
Source: The
Greens. 26 March 2013
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