Recyship is an ambitious European project framed within the LIFE+ program in the action line of “Environment Policy and Governance†to be developed during the period 2009-2012. The intention is to address the issue of ship scrapping in matters of occupational safety, health and environmental protection.
This project seeks to support the European Commission in developing rules and guidelines in relation to vessels that, for various reasons, must be removed becoming a unique residue very complex to manage.
With this project the European Commission addresses the controversial issue of decontamination and recycling of ships out of use in Europe and solving cases like the French case of the Clemenceau (15 feb. 2006) or the dutch case of the Otopán (21 feb. 2007) and seeking to solve the problems of transferring ships out of use to countries in Southeast Asia (Pakistan, India and Bangladesh mainly) where ships are dismantled in the absence of environmental controls and security for workers.
For that reason a pilot plant will be develop to optimize the processes of ship decontamination in order to encourage such operations on European territory and avoid international shipments of hazardous waste. At the same time it aims to develop an integrated management system of quality, environmental and occupational risk prevention applicable to such facilities in Europe and other countries.
The main objectives of this project, and the
resolution of one of the aspects considered of pressing interest to
the European Union are:
1. Helping to strengthen European legislation on waste from ships and ships as waste
2.Propose solutions for the full range of member states and companies and ships operating under their flags
3.Contribute with studies to increase the European capacity for decontamination and dismantling of ships
4. Provide
technical assistance and technological transfer and of best practices
for recyclers in member states and not EU members
5. Helping to promote voluntary actions