The European Parliament’s Transport Committee has adopted the Meissner report on the Port Reception Facilities to reinforce the ‘polluter pays’ principle for ship waste management.
The committee also asked the Rapporteur to start negotiations with the European Council to finalise the content of the new law.
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Welcoming the move, the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) said that the ‘polluter pays’ principle would discourage the disposal of unreasonable quantities of garbage, including dangerous waste, at a fixed price.
The law intends to ensure that ships deliver their trash at every port of call and do not skip such deliveries to save time.
The principle also expected to eliminate the burden of extra costs on ports while delivering abnormally large amounts of waste generated between two ship calls.
ESPO secretary general Isabelle Ryckbost said: “The Transport Committee of the European Parliament has clearly voted in favour of a policy that incentivises ships to deliver waste generated on-board in the ports.
“It also encourages ships to limit the waste at the source by preventing ships to deliver unreasonable amounts of waste without paying for it.
“We believe that the text adopted strikes the right balance between efficiency and responsibility and strengthens the ‘polluter pays’ principle.”
However, ESPO expressed disappointment over the Parliament’s decision to make rebates mandatory for green management of ship waste.
According to ESPO, mandatory rebates ignored the existence of various business and governance models in ports across Europe.
