Unexpected side effects of the EU Ship Recycling Regulation call for global cooperation on greening the shipbreaking industry

Abstract

The recent EU Ship Recycling Regulation (EU SRR) and other existing conventions aimed to reduce harmful environmental and health impacts of ship shipbreaking, may push the shipbreaking industry further to South Asian countries, where ecosystem and public health are threatened due to the lack of monitoring for dirty beaching methods for ship breaking. Such unsustainable patterns may continue to expand due to the mismatch of economic beneficiaries and environmental costs in the shipbreaking industry, the ineffectiveness of existing conventions and regulations, and the prospect of a large number of ships to be dismantled in the near future. Our study focuses on the above emerging issues and raises the urgency of joint actions for the shipbreaking industry.

Perspectives for the Development of a Circular Economy Model to Promote Ship Recycling Practices in the European Context: A Systemic Literature Review

“…A recent example of a public-private governance arrangement in ship recycling regulation is the recommendations proposed by [109], which improved the development of the regulation as follows: Additional recycling yards should be added to the European list, the application is taken more seriously, ship owners are exposed to greater responsibility concerns under civil liability law, and using the listed recycling facilities should become more alluring if the EU offers financial incentives. The public financial incentive study by [110] is based on an incentive/disincentive system: when the ship demolition industry booms, the government can collect more taxes. During recessions in the ship demolition sector, the government can grant the demolition industry some subsidies to maintain the normal operational costs of the sector.…”