Summary
Details
- European Union
Covered ships calling at EU ports are generally subject to:
- Advance waste notification.
- Delivery of waste before departure.
- Waste documentation.
- Applicable port waste fees.
- Inspection and enforcement.
Ports must provide adequate facilities.
Important exceptions include situations where:
- A vessel has sufficient dedicated waste-storage capacity.
- It is operating on an approved scheduled service with frequent and regular port calls.
- Specific statutory exemptions apply.
Deep dive
- What’s Required
- 1. Provide adequate port reception facilities
- 2. Deliver ship waste before departure
- 3. Maintain waste delivery documentation
- 4. Notify ports in advance
- 5. Allow limited storage-capacity exemptions
- 6. Establish cost-recovery systems
- 7. Accept garbage without additional direct charges
- 8. Cover fishing vessels and recreational craft
- 9. Manage passively fished waste
- 10. Integrate port waste into EU waste law
- 11. Inspect ships
- Important Deadlines
- Current Status
- Penalties for Non-Compliance
- Examples of Known Violations / Failure Modes
- Resources
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What’s Required
1. Provide adequate port reception facilities
Member States must ensure that EU ports have facilities capable of receiving the types and quantities of waste normally generated by ships using the port.
Facilities should take account of:
Port users' operational needs.
Port size.
Geographic location.
Types of ships using the port.
Applicable exemptions.
Facilities should also avoid causing undue delays to vessels.
2. Deliver ship waste before departure
As a general rule, the master of a ship calling at an EU port must deliver all waste carried onboard to a port reception facility before leaving the port.
The waste must be managed consistently with applicable MARPOL discharge requirements and EU waste legislation.
3. Maintain waste delivery documentation
Once waste has been delivered, the facility operator or competent port authority issues a waste delivery receipt.
For relevant ships, information from that receipt must also be reported electronically and retained onboard for at least two years.
4. Notify ports in advance
Covered ships must provide advance information concerning waste onboard before arrival.
Information can include:
Types of waste.
Quantities.
Storage capacity.
Waste intended for delivery.
Waste retained onboard.
This information supports inspections and decisions about whether a ship can proceed without unloading all waste.
5. Allow limited storage-capacity exemptions
A vessel may proceed to the next port without delivering all waste where it can demonstrate sufficient dedicated storage capacity for waste already onboard and waste expected to accumulate during the next voyage.
However, authorities can still require delivery where:
Adequate facilities at the next port cannot be confirmed.
The next port is unknown.
There is a risk that waste could be discharged improperly.
6. Establish cost-recovery systems
Ports must operate fee systems that ensure the costs of collecting and managing ship-generated waste are recovered.
A key feature is the indirect fee, which ships pay regardless of whether they actually deliver waste.
This reduces the economic incentive to discharge waste at sea.
Additional direct charges can apply in certain cases, particularly for unusually large quantities of waste.
7. Accept garbage without additional direct charges
The Directive provides particularly strong incentives for delivery of garbage.
Ships can generally deliver relevant garbage without paying an additional direct charge beyond the indirect fee, helping discourage marine disposal.
8. Cover fishing vessels and recreational craft
The Directive is not limited to large commercial ships.
Fishing vessels and recreational craft are incorporated into the port waste management system, including applicable fee arrangements.
9. Manage passively fished waste
Passively fished waste is waste accidentally collected in fishing nets during normal fishing operations.
The Directive encourages delivery of this material ashore without additional direct charges.
The objective is to prevent fishers from returning recovered marine litter to the sea because of disposal costs.
10. Integrate port waste into EU waste law
Waste delivered at ports must be managed in an environmentally appropriate manner under the Waste Framework Directive and other applicable EU waste legislation.
Ports should facilitate:
Separate collection.
Reuse where appropriate.
Recycling.
Recovery.
Safe disposal of residual waste.
11. Inspect ships
Member States must maintain inspection and enforcement systems to verify compliance.
Authorities can examine:
Waste notifications.
Waste delivery receipts.
Waste storage capacity.
Records onboard.
Compliance with mandatory delivery requirements.
Important Deadlines
April 17, 2019: Directive adopted.
June 7, 2019: Published in the Official Journal.
June 27, 2019: Entered into force.
June 28, 2021: Member State transposition deadline.
2022: Commission implementing rules entered the implementation phase, including methodology for assessing sufficient waste-storage capacity.
2022-2025: Period covered by the Commission's 2026 implementation assessment.
2026: Directive remains active and legally binding.
Current Status
Active and legally binding.
In 2026, the European Commission published an implementation report covering 2022 to 2025, reviewing delivery of ship waste, adequacy of port facilities and remaining implementation gaps.
The Directive remains a core EU instrument linking maritime pollution prevention with waste management and circular economy policy.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
Member States must establish effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties.
Possible national consequences include:
Administrative fines.
Ship detention.
Port-state control measures.
Orders requiring waste delivery.
Enforcement against inaccurate reporting.
Penalties for illegal marine discharge under related legislation.
Examples of Known Violations / Failure Modes
Departing without delivering required waste.
Underreporting waste onboard.
Providing inaccurate waste-notification information.
Discharging waste at sea instead of using port facilities.
Failure to retain waste delivery receipts.
Port reception capacity inadequate for normal vessel traffic.
Excessive fees discouraging waste delivery.
Failure to accept passively fished waste appropriately.
Poor separation of recyclable waste.
Ships claiming storage-capacity exemptions without adequate capacity.
Improper management of hazardous ship waste.
Failure to integrate delivered waste into authorized waste-management systems.
Resources
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