The European Parliament's Transport Committee today adopted the Meissner report on port reception facilities for ship waste and instructed the rapporteur to start negotiations with the Council to finalise the text of the new law.
The European Ports Organisation (ESPO) welcomes the proposal to strengthen the "polluter pays" principle by discouraging the delivery of unjustified quantities of waste, including hazardous waste, for a fixed fee.
This proposal will better protect the marine environment by increasing the quantities of waste delivered to ports. It aims to ensure that ships deliver their waste during each port call and do not skip waste deliveries to save time. Finally, it avoids ports having to pay the additional cost of delivering amounts of waste that exceed the normal quantities generated between two ships.
"The European Parliament's Transport Committee has voted clearly in favour of a policy that encourages ships to deliver waste generated on board to ports. It also encourages ships to reduce waste at source, preventing them from delivering unreasonable amounts of waste without paying for it. We believe that the text adopted strikes the right balance between efficiency and accountability and reinforces the 'polluter pays' principle. We are very grateful to the Transport Committee for their very balanced position on the initially complex legislation. We support the rapporteur and Parliament's negotiating team in defending this outcome in further negotiations with the Council.", says Isabelle Ryckbost, Secretary General of ESPO, regarding the results of the vote in the EP.
However, ESPO regrets that Parliament has decided to make rebates mandatory for green waste management on ships. By encouraging ships to work towards sustainable waste management, ports believe that the decision to grant rebates should be taken at port level. Rebates are generally applied to address local environmental challenges. In some areas, waste pollution is a major environmental concern, while in others air quality and emissions are. Furthermore, mandatory rebates ignore the existence of different business models and port governance in ports across Europe.
