Port reception facilities

Waste streams generated on board ships en route and during cargo operations are governed by the MARPOL 73/78 waste/residues UN Convention; their efficient delivery at shore and final disposal is a Member States obligation. In order to ensure availability and safe delivery to the Port Reception Facilities (PRF), the European Parliament and the European Council adopted the Directive 2000/59/EU on for ship-generated waste and cargo residues, taking into account International Maritime Organization (IMO) measures. The main difference between the MARPOL 73/78 Convention and the 2000/59/EU Directive is that the former focuses mainly on-board operations, whereas the Directive regulates shore side activities. Implementation of the MARPOL 73/78 waste/residues Convention and of the Directive 2000/59/EU in Greece, was implemented by the Common Ministerial Decision 8111.1/41/2009; both Directive and Decision are currently under revision. A proposal for a new Directive has been published in January 2018.  The recent EU Regulation 2017/352 establishes a framework for the provision of port services and common rules on the financial transparency of European ports, affecting as well the ship waste handling sector. In Greece, the regulator that ensures application of the regulation in the domain of ports is the Regulatory Authority for Ports (RAL). The main targets of this work include the presentation of a) the existing state of delivery and shore-side management procedure for ship waste in Greece, b) the service provision market challenges, c) the assessment of environmental friendly processes and d) the regulatory aspects.

The cruise ship industry has become a well-implemented industry in the Baltic Sea area, and each year, the number of cruise ship passengers rises steadily. Efficient waste management in cruising ports around the Baltic Sea is a crucial element in minimizing environmental impacts. This research involves the four selected ports of Copenhagen, Helsinki, Stockholm and Tallinn. The study applies statistics and interview data to the analysis of waste management systems for cruise ship-generated waste. The interview data involves 12 executives and professionals responsible for environmental issues and decision making in their respective ports. The interviews highlighted the need for standardized environmental legislation and related procedures, which would result in coherent measurement systems. These systems would enable transparent environmental monitoring, thus maintaining the ports' competitiveness. A common environmental legislation would support the emerging waste management system for the whole Baltic Sea area. The study suggests that ports should focus on handling specific types of wastes and collaborate as a spatial network. Specialization to allow the discharge of certain fractions of waste is essential. The paper concludes by addressing demands for future research, particularly vessel-and customer behavior-focused studies.