Between 2019 and 2025, only 5% of the tonnage of EU-owned and EU-flagged vessels was recycled in Europe, despite the availability of sufficient domestic processing capacity, according to Kallanish from the Shipbreaking Platform and Transport & Environment (T&E) report.
D During this period, 706 EU-flagged or EU-owned vessels with a total displacement of 6.7 million tons were recycled worldwide. Of these, 22% were processed at EU enterprises, which is 5% of the total tonnage. Almost half of the vessels, accounting for 66% of the total tonnage, were dismantled in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
The report claims that this represents both an environmental problem and a loss of recyclable steel for the European economy. The group has criticized the practice of beaching in South Asia, arguing that it increases environmental and safety risks.
"This is a serious failure of the EU's industrial strategy, which on paper prioritizes strategic sustainability and material autonomy, but in fact leads to the loss of valuable steel for third markets," says Benedetta Mantoan, policy manager at the Shipbreaking Platform. "The EU talks about reducing dependence on imports of critical materials, but at the same time allows its shipowners to circumvent the rules and export millions of tons of steel that can be processed domestically. This is not a strategic autonomy. " Rules
The EU requires EU-flagged vessels to use approved waste recycling facilities and restricts the export of ships with waste to non-OECD countries. The report says that shipowners often change the flags of ships or use other mechanisms to avoid meeting these requirements.
Industry groups including Eurofer and Recycling Europe have previously called for a ban on ship recycling and disembarkation methods. Some organizations also argue that some facilities should be excluded from the EU-approved list of waste recycling facilities.
The debate intensified after the European Commission's proposals to include two Indian waste recycling plants in the EU-approved list. In July, Brussels began public consultations on the proposed changes.
,The ship dismantling platform and T&E confirm the EU's outright ban on ship beaching practices and higher standards in the ship recycling sector.
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, ,, Author: Ritu Ravi, Great Britain.
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