North Sea Protection Council Tighter Regulations on Waste Dumping - August 1995

North Sea Protection Council Tighter Regulations on Waste Dumping - August 1995

At the 1995 North Sea Protection Conference, it was agreed that hazardous waste dumping into the North Sea would be completely banned by 2020. This agreement aims to significantly reduce the amount of hazardous waste currently dumped into the North Sea, which currently amounts to over 1,000 tons per year. In addition to heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and cadmium, the target substances include highly toxic chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins. These substances have serious adverse effects on marine ecosystems and are particularly damaging to fishery resources.

In order to achieve their reduction targets for these hazardous wastes, North Sea coastal countries such as France, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway have established a policy to gradually reduce the amount of dumping by 2020, and eventually to zero. The United Kingdom, on the other hand, did not sign on to a complete halt to dumping due to pressure from the industry, including the country's major chemical companies, ICL (Imperial Chemical Industries), Union Carbide, and pharmaceutical companies. This has led to indications that the UK may continue to dump approximately 2,000 tons of waste per year into the North Sea.

The agreement is expected to have a significant impact on improving water quality in the North Sea, and France and Germany have announced plans to allocate 500 million euros (about 65 billion yen) for the construction of waste recycling facilities. In addition, the Norwegian government plans to invest 10 million euros (about 1.3 billion yen) per year in the development of waste treatment technology to achieve the goal of zero ocean dumping.

Thus, while efforts to protect the North Sea are expected to have a positive impact on the protection of fishery resources and the tourism industry, the chemical industry is required to shift to sustainable management, including the recycling and detoxification of waste.