The Management of ship generated waste: environmental protection regulations and the Italian Regulatory framework

Sustainable maritime transport activities represent a primary component of the EU policies on “zero impact” mobility models. Maritime transport plays a pivotal role in the international movement of goods, boasting dominant shares in the foreign trade of EU countries. Its strategic importance for access to primary resources and competitiveness of the EU emerged, with force, both during the COVID pandemic and following the geopolitical circumstances triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war. In the context of EU policies aimed at the ecological transition, the EU legislator has paid due attention to the management of waste produced by ships, along with cargo residues, outlining a special regime, which is governed by the fundamental principles of environmental law and open to the concrete objectives of the circular economy. In this context, some legislation on the treatment of waste produced by nautical activity has assumed pivotal importance in the perspective of containing environmental risk at a global level. Providing for the safe management of waste produced on-board but capable of contaminating very distant areas or rapidly spreading pathogens in different parts of the world, due to its originating in diverse contexts and countries (during the voyage), emerged forcefully as an urgent topic during the pandemic crisis. However, it had already been present on the European agenda for some time. The EU requires Member States to take the necessary measures to enact a management strategy that ensures, first and foremost, the protection of human health, as well as the environment in all its components, including the landscape and sites of particular interest. The paper highlights the EU special regime for management of waste produced by ships in the framework of the general legislation on waste management, with special reference to the state of the art in Italy.