Rules specific to certain types of waste
B) Ship recycling
Regulation (EC) No 1257/2013 on ship recycling aims “at facilitating early ratification” of the Hong Kong International Convention for the safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships of 15 May 2009, which was adopted under the auspices of the International Maritime Organisation (Article 1). This Convention covers the design, the construction, the operation and the preparation of ships with a view to facilitating safe and environmentally-sound recycling as well as the “operation of ship recycling facilities in a safe and environmentally sound manner” (preamble, recital No 4).
Regulation (EC) No 1257/2013 applies mainly to ships flying the flag of a Member State, with a few provisions applying to ships flying the flag of a third country calling at a port or anchorage in a Member State (Article 2 and Article 12).
Such ships may be “a vessel of any type whatsoever” of 500 gross tonnage (GT) or more, except warships or other ships owned or operated by a State and used only on government non-commercial services (Article 2(2) and Article 3(1)(1)).
Ship recycling facilities are also the subject-matter of the Regulation, whether they are located on the territory of a Member State or not (Article 14 and Article 15).