EU Ships Scrapped in South Asia Despite Domestic Capacity, Study Reveals Policy Gaps
A new study by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform and T&E reveals that the vast majority of EU-owned or EU-flagged ships are being scrapped in South Asia under poor environmental and safety conditions, despite the EU having sufficient domestic recycling capacity. Between 2019 and 2025, only 22% of EU-flagged and/or EU-owned ships dismantled worldwide were recycled in EU facilities, representing just 5% of the total tonnage. Nearly half of these ships, accounting for 66% of total tonnage, were beached in India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. The study highlights that many shipowners reflag their vessels or falsely claim continued operations to evade EU waste export restrictions, which prohibit ships becoming waste in EU waters from being exported to non-OECD countries and require EU-flagged vessels to use EU-approved facilities. This practice results in the export of toxic waste and a loss of valuable high-quality materials for the EU economy. 
