European Asbestos Removal Congres

November 22-23, 2007Gallery Hotel, Barcelona

sponsored by IDESIbérica de Desamiantados

Outline

• Brief introduction

• Goals

• EARA

• Situation in The Netherlands

• Shipbreaking

WWW.EARA.NL

Brief introduction

• This conference >

great initiative

• On behalf of European Asbestos Removal Association (EARA, WWW.EARA.NL)

• Little background Arnout Drop

WWW.EARA.NL

Goals

• Help raising awareness of dangers of asbestos

• Promoting EARA as a platform for asbestos removal industry in EU

• Focus attention on shipbreaking as a market opportunity

WWW.EARA.NL

EARA

• Establishment EARA in 1990 in UK• Started as an association of associations (one

vote per country)• Limited possibilities > conferences• Code of Practice, based on EU-legislation• Future plans > multiple votes per country,

company membership and / or project-organisation (retributions)

• Market development and lobbying on EU-legislation

WWW.EARA.NL

NL

• Mandatory certification of asbestos removal contractors since 1993, incl. investigation bureaus, laboratories and personel (implementing EU-directive 83/477/EEC)

• Risk based legislation since 2007, implementation of latest EU-legislation (2003/18/EG) > differentiation

• Difficulties with liability insurance• Special funds for ‘cases from the past’

WWW.EARA.NL

Developments

• Enlargement EU, ‘average’ downwards? Difficult decision-making? Subsidiarity? Differences in scope and pace

• Internal market and competition > mutual recognition of each other’s systems

• Lisbon-goals (global competition as EU, improving work-force / employability, dealing with obsolescence (aging and declining population), immigration, innovation, environment)

• Corporate Social Responsibilty (CSR) > public opinion, part of a chain, shareholders, liability, sustainable buying, banks and insurers

WWW.EARA.NL

Shipbreaking

• What is the issue?

• What are the possibilities?

• What strategy could be developed?

• Conclusions

WWW.EARA.NL

Activities

• Stakeholders consultation by EU

• Enforcement of EU-legislation on waste-treatment (no exportation outside EU)

• Cooperation with NGO Platform on Shipbreaking, Public Hearing

• Setting up network: ship-owners, docks, port-authorities, (national) governments, IMO

Quotes

• “From the ships scrapped between 2006 and 2015 an estimated 5.5 million tonnes of materials of potential environmental concern will end up in dismantling yards (in particular oil sludge, oils, paints, PVC and asbestos”

• “Ship-breaking is a dangerous activity. According to a recent Indian report, already one in six of the workers at Alang, India's largest dismantling site, is suffering from asbestosis.”

WWW.EARA.NL

Thank you!

• Have a good conference, good business

• And … join EARA !!!

WWW.EARA.NL