Five European ship recycling yards joined forces in Brussels this month to effectively raise awareness of the continent´s capacity to properly recycle ships.
The newly established European Ship Recyclers Group (ESR) aims to reach out to ship owners that are looking for clean and safe ship recycling. The European Union approved 18 ship recycling facilities under the EU Ship Recycling Regulation in December last year.
All 18 facilities are located within the EU and the newly established ESR represents five of these yards – from France (Port of Bordeaux), Belgium (Galloo), Denmark (Smedegaarden), the Netherlands (Scheepssloperij) and Spain (DDR).
The European Commission is currently revising 18 additional applications from facilities located outside the EU. To make it on the EU list of approved facilities, yards need to prove that they are able to contain pollutants, ensure safe working conditions and the environmentally sound management of all wastes derived from the recycling activities. Facilities that operate on tidal beaches are not expected to make it on the EU list.
‘ESR’s main goals are to unite all European ship recycling yards and let the ship owners know that there is capacity for ship recycling in Europe. ESR will be in close contact with l ocal and EU governments to make sure sub-standard and unlicensed recycling practices also within Europe are ended,’ says Peter Wyntin of Galloo, chairman of ESR.
