Green recycling
For over a decade, we have helped owners of ships and rigs to make sure their vessels get a dignified end. A proud ship should be allowed to retire peacefully and gracefully. We ensure that your vessel will be recycled in a truly sustainable way – taking care of workers’ safety, the environment, and in compliance with applicable regulations.
Handling Covid-19:
Local presence and digital solutions
Grieg Green have a local presence in all the locations where sustainable recycling is available, with little need for travelling. That makes it possible for us to supervise the projects and carry out facilities audits as before. We conduct frequent local risk assessments based on the development of the situation and continuously include appropriate measures to avoid infections beyond the recommended or mandatory local restrictions. Brief periods of lockdown has given limited progress delays. The development and usage of digital tools have ensured sustained cooperation with yards and increased training of our employees, developing the team more intensively than through classroom settings.
Some of our customers
Shortlisted yards
Specially vetted by us
Grieg Green only collaborates with what we consider to be the top Ship Recycling Facilities in the world. They need to follow our strict recycling policies. The facilities are monitored and audited regularly and must be ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certified, as well as adhere to the Hong Kong Convention (HKC) and EU Ship Recycling Regulation (EUSRR).
We base our audits on the HKC and EU SRR and provides more specific evaluation where the regulations are vague. This evaluation builds on Grieg Green’s unique accumulated experience of high standards and best practices in recycling and related industries. The audit result is solely an overview of the situation at the time of the audit and is often a basis for continuous improvement monitored by us for suitability to future projects.
We are approved by all major classification societies and relevant flag states
Our process
We are there for you
and the environment
The first step of a green recycling process is to identify all hazardous materials on board. This is necessary to ensure safe handling and proper downstream waste management. The Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM) is developed by our in-house HazMat experts. Grieg Green is approved by all leading classification societies for IHM preparation.
The planning and preparation documents are followed up with the Ship Recycling Facility. Throughout the project, our on-site supervisors monitor the recycling process and provide guidance to the yard to ensure the recycling quality, safety, and compliance. As the ship’s owner, you will have detailed insight into the activities through our weekly reports.
Our principal assignment is to ensure the owner’s expectations for a safe and sustainable recycling process is met. The final completion report will fully document this.
The recycling business and regulations
The ship recycling industry has long been infamous for poor safety and environmental standards. Traditionally, intermediaries have bought the vessels for resale to the highest bidders – typically the yards who spend the least on training, equipment, and facilities. More than 80% of ships demolished today end their lives by polluting shorelines in South East Asia.
The last days of a ship can be in stark contrast to its operating life when the owner upheld safety standards and procedures and routines were in place and followed. We know that the end can be as worthy as the service life with a bit of effort and the right choices.
There are currently some 300 demolition yards worldwide serving international shipping clients. Less than 10% of these yards are considered acceptable according to current safety and environmental standards. Many now hold a Statement of Compliance of various quality from recognised organisations. But without clear terms and monitoring of the recycling process, the result is very unpredictable.
After the implementation of the EU SRR, and in the countries that have ratified the HKC, authorities in the largest recycling regions have started to introduce controls on parts of the industry. It will take time until the standards meet the intentions of the regulations, i.e. “safe and sustainable”, and the wide room for interpretation is used by some to hold back the development. Despite the general situation, several individual yards have taken the sign of the times seriously and aim for Grieg Green’s shortlist and business with the most responsible asset owners.
The Basel Convention
The Basel Convention of 1992 categorises a vessel going for recycling as waste. The convention controls the transboundary movement of hazardous waste, especially from a developed country (OECD) to a non-OECD country. Therefore, you need to follow a specific process to export the ship from one country to its recycling destination. This process is part of what our service to our customers.
Hong Kong Convention
IMO’s Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (HKC) from 2009 addresses the working and environmental conditions in ship recycling facilities globally. The convention would enter into force two years after 15 states, representing 40% of the world merchant shipping by gross tonnage, and on average 3% of recycling tonnage for the previous ten years, have ratified the convention or deposited instruments of ratification. Though a handful of countries have ratified HKC, with Spain as the last in 2021, they represent less than the needed 40% of the world fleet. Even if the convention has not entered into force, we use the Guidelines attached to the convention as a basis in our technical standards.
EU Ship Recycling Regulation
Partly as an early implementation of the HKC and as a part of the European Union’s (EU) sustainable policy, a Ship Recycling Regulation (EU SRR) developed by the EU entered into force in December 2013. The majority of ship recycling facilities on the list of EU-approved facilities are located in the EU. There are also approved facilities in Turkey and the USA. The regulation applies to all vessels sailing to ports and anchorages located within the EU.