NGO Shipbreaking Platform urges EC to recognize circular value of ship recycling

November 14, 2025, by Naida Hakirevic Prevljak

Ship recycling can play an important role in decarbonizing the European steel and construction sectors, according to the NGO Shipbreaking Platform’s new position paper.

Illustration purposes only. Source: Pexels

The coalition participated in the European Commission’s consultation on the upcoming Circular Economy Act.

As explained, with a significant number of ships expected to reach the end of their service life in the coming years, ship recycling presents a strategic opportunity to achieve not only enhanced circularity, but also the EU’s strategic autonomy, decarbonization and competitiveness objectives, while putting an end to the export of harmful waste to third countries.

The world’s fleet is not only growing, but also aging, which will create more opportunities for steel recycling as it is ships’ default building material. Studies predict an even five-fold increase of ships sent for dismantling in the next decade, which could yield more than 100 million tonnes of high-quality steel. Since steel recycling saves 1.5 tonnes of CO₂ compared to raw steel, this would lead to huge emissions reductions and significantly limit pollution.

What is more, innovative projects have demonstrated how ship steel can be directly reused in sectors such as construction. However, the vast majority of end-of-life ships end up on Bangladeshi, Indian or Pakistani beaches, where the dismantling and recycling practices are far from safe. Only 1% of EU-owned vessels are recycled in Europe.

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“Owning one third of the world’s fleet, the European Union has a duty to lead the way and set an ambitious example for sustainable ship recycling. Instead of destroying fragile coastal ecosystems, and putting workers in third countries’ health at risk, EU-owned end-of-life ships should contribute to decarbonisation and circularity efforts,” Ingvild Jenssen, Director of the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, stressed.

The Circular Economy Act has been described as ‘a key opportunity’ to shift the sector towards more sustainable practices. The NGO Shipbreaking Platform therefore calls on the European Commission to include in its proposal:

A clear prioritization of eco-design and upcycling practices that promote reuse over recycling;
An explicit recognition of the EU-owned fleet as a material bank of high-quality steel, and ship-derived steel as a strategic source of secondary raw material;
Enhanced product information transparency to facilitate the circulation of ship materials across industries, notably through creation of a Ship Material Passport;
Ambitious lead market measures for end-of-life ships materials including mandatory circular public procurement targets;
Strong circularity incentives for the maritime sector including a ship recycling return scheme;
Clear support for circular innovations and research;
Decisive action to close legal and enforcement loopholes on end-of-life ship exports, in particular by reviewing the EU Ship Recycling Regulation.

“We welcome and support any action leading to preventing exports of hazardous waste, and unleashing the circular economy’s potential with its numerous benefits. We therefore call on the European Commission to recognize the strategic role of ship recycling in achieving circularity of the EU economy, and to include the proposed measures to unlock this potential in the Circular Economy Act,” the NGO concluded.

In related news, the Hong Kong International Convention for the safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships (HKC) entered into force in June 2025. Its entry marked a long-awaited turning point in how the world dismantles and recycles end-of-life vessels.

Over two decades in the making, the convention—for which full compliance is not obligatory before 2030—sets global standards for shipowners, flag states, and recycling yards, seeking to bring long-overdue accountability to an industry plagued by safety and environmental abuses.

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