The European Commission (EC) has adopted the first version of the European List of ship recycling facilities. The first 18 shipyards included in the list are all in the European Union.

According to the EC, all 18 shipyards fulfill the strict requirements for inclusion in the list and as a result will have exclusive access to the recycling of ships flying the flags of Member States of the European Union.

Additionally, the EC has received applications from a number of ship recycling yards located in third countries. The applications from these locations are being reviewed and site inspections will be conducted to check their credentials. The EC says that it will decide in 2017 on their inclusion in the list.

“I congratulate the 18 European companies which have made it on the European List of ship recycling facilities," says Karmenu Vella, the EC’s commissioner for environment, maritime affairs and fisheries. "The list sends a clear signal that there is business and employment in safe and environmentally sound ship recycling, starting in Europe. With the list we close the loop for the European naval industry: These ships were often designed and built in Europe; we can take care of them at the end of their life too – in a respectful way."

Adopted in 2013, the EU Ship Recycling Regulation requires all vessels sailing under an EU member state flag to use an approved ship recycling facility.

From a date set in the regulation to fall between mid-2017 and 31 December 2018, large commercial seagoing vessels flying the flag of an EU member state may be recycled only in safe and sound ship recycling facilities included in the European List of ship recycling facilities.

Along with the first version of the European List, the commission has adopted four further acts to implement the Ship Recycling Regulation, to provide information on hazardous materials in ships and facilitate the recycling process.

The regulation obliges all ships visiting European ports – irrespective of the flag they fly – to carry on board an inventory of hazardous materials from the end of 2020 onward. The measure is expected to improve sourcing of quality ship parts globally and benefit European shipbuilding yards, according to the EC.

Already from the publication of the European List, all EU flagged ships going for dismantling must carry on board an inventory of hazardous materials.

The full legal act establishing the first version of the European List can be found by clicking here. 

A Smurfit Kappa recycling depot in Tamworth, United Kingdom, is celebrating a fundraising milestone, having raised more than £40,000 ($50,000) for a nearby hospice.

A total of £41,038.74 has been raised for St. Giles Hospice to help fund the provision of care to local people living with cancer and other serious illnesses. The fundraising target was hit “thanks to businesses in the region who donate their recyclable paper and cardboard to the depot,” says Smurfit Kappa.

Through the program, smaller businesses deliver their recyclable cardboard and paper directly to the depot while larger businesses can request a bin that is collected free of charge. Smurfit Kappa Recycling pays for every tonne of material collected, and over the years an increasing number of customers have been nominating St Giles Hospice as the recipient for the payments, says the company. The depot staff has already begun working toward an £80,000 ($98,700) fundraising target.

The recovered fibre supplied to Smurfit Kappa’s Tamworth depot ends up at its paper mill in nearby Birmingham and its sister mill in Kent, U.K., where it is used to make brown paper packaging.

“We are delighted to have supported St. Giles Hospice over the years,” says Jeremy Green, commercial manager for Smurfit Kappa Recycling. “Its valuable work has positively benefitted so many of our employees’ immediate families and friends; everyone understands what a vital role St. Giles plays within the local community.”

Adds Green, “We are really proud of the amount we’ve been able to donate thanks to all the recyclable paper and cardboard we’ve received from so many diverse small businesses in the region. Small amounts really do add up. We’re now looking forward to developing the partnership and hope that other businesses will help us raise even more money for St. Giles by getting involved with this fantastic project.”

Richard Phillips, corporate account manager for St. Giles Hospice, comments, “The support we’ve had from Smurfit Kappa Recycling over the past few years has been brilliant. They have also been heavily involved in supporting our events with both volunteers and financial support – they’ve been a fantastic partner in so many ways.”

Bingham Farms, Michigan-based Global Commercial Credit (GCC) says it has redesigned its website to incorporate “a new modernized look, complete mobile accessibility and an improved front-end user experience.” The credit insurance broker for the metals industry also is celebrating its 20th year in business.

As part of its website update, GCC says it has highlighted what makes it “unique from other specialist brokers in the credit insurance field,” including its more than 200 years of combined experience in trade credit insurance and finance in the metals sector. Profiles of GCC’s service team, claims and recovery team and financial analysts are available on the site.

“The very essence of our business is service and support,” says Craig Bonnell, president of GCC. “Our 20-plus year history of service to the metals industry is something we’re very proud of. A lot of companies talk about service. We live it every day. Like we say on our new site, it’s in our DNA.”

GCC says it collaborated with Wade Pressel and Steve Flake of Mercury Studio LLC, Royal Oak Michigan, to developed the new design over the course of two months.

“It was important to Mercury Studio that the new Global Commercial Credit website be a showcase of GCC’s metals industry credit risk management expertise while properly presenting the services and people that make GCC so great,” says Flake. “The new website is a bottom-up rebuild that will make a strong impression on current and potential clients and allow for users of the website to get the information they need in the most efficient way possible.”

GCC describes itself as a specialty broker for domestic and export trade credit insurance in the metals industry, representing many carriers who specialize in the specialty coverage area.

Remondis, a Germany-based recycling and environmental services firm, has acquired the waste and recycling company BVBA Vervoer Depoorter, based in Flanders, Belgium. Remondis says the deal will allow it to extend its industrial waste activities to the North Sea coastal region of Belgium.

Another advantage of the purchase, according to Remondis, is that Deeporter is located in one of the busiest West European regions for trade and logistics, and includes three international ports nearby.

In 2015, Depoorter collected, sorted and processed about 80,000 tonnes of recyclables. The company employs 31 people, all of whom will be taken on by Remondis, along with all physical assets.

Remondis says that Depoorter is the local market leader in container services, commercial solid waste and mixed construction waste. Following the acquisition, Remondis plans to extend Depoorter’s business to include recovered fiber, bio-wastes and woodchip. The German company also hopes to grow its business on the municipal sector.

The management of the family owned Deeporter company, including its managing directors Mark Depoorter and Stefaan Pillen, also will remain with Remondis.

In announcing the deal, Werner Hols, Remondis’ managing director, says, "Belgium and especially the West Flanders region is one of the most important growth regions in Western Europe due to its central location and good infrastructure. It is a step for innovative growth in the service of a sustainable economy in Benelux.”

Remondis is one of the largest private service companies for recycling, service and water in the world and provides services to about 30 million people. The group has branches and holdings in 33 countries throughout Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.