EWD Benli Recycling has received official approval for the construction of Germany’s first ship dismantling and recycling plant. The new facility will be located in Emden on the premises of the Emder Werft und Dock (EWD) shipyard, which is owned by the project’s parent company. The approval process lasted almost a year, and now the company is officially recognized as a specialized waste management operator.
EWD Benli Recycling plans to dismantle sea, river, coastal and passenger ships, ferries, as well as wind turbines and industrial facilities. The historic shipyard, founded in 1903, currently employs 150 people, has two floating docks, one dry dock and a nearly two-kilometer-long quay wall. As the company emphasizes, they will now be able to dismantle any ships that can pass through the sea lock of the port of Emden.
The project is a response to the global ship recycling problem: around 700 large-tonnage vessels are written off every year, most of which are sent for recycling to South Asia, where recycling conditions raise environmental and safety concerns. The new plant will be operational shortly before the Hong Kong Convention for the Safe Recycling of Ships comes into force, and also complies with the requirements of the EU regulation, which requires European ships to be sent only to certified shipyards from an approved list.