e-Digest Statistics about: Coastal and marine waters
Coastal and marine waters
Dumping of wastes at sea
The dumping of wastes at sea is prohibited, except under licences issued under Part II of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 (FEPA II). The categories of licensed waste have included sewage sludge, solid industrial waste and dredged materials. Under the OSPAR Convention, only dredged material, fish processing waste, inert materials of natural origin and vessels or aircraft may now be disposed of at sea under FEPA II in the UK. Dredged material now comprises virtually all of the material deposited at sea. Table 14 shows the amounts of wastes dumped and the tonnages of contaminants contained in the waste.
The amount of sewage sludge dumped fluctuated over the period shown but the metal content in the sludge declined, reflecting better treatment of sewage and stricter controls of discharges of industrial effluent. Disposal of sewage sludge at sea ceased at the end of 1998. Solid industrial waste consisted mainly of waste rock from collieries, but also included small amounts of dumping of explosives and sediment processed in recovering coal. The dumping of colliery waste ceased in 1995.
Discharges of Radioactive Waste
In 1994 the UK accepted a global ban on the sea disposal of all radioactive wastes, under the London Convention 1972, superseding the ban which applied only to high level radioactive waste. Authorised discharges of low level liquid radioactive waste into the sea are made, however, from a number of nuclear establishments. Details of radioactive concentrations in the Irish and North Sea are given in the Radioactivity topic.
Further Information:
- Data Tables:
- 14 Dumping of sewage sludge, industrial waste and dredgings at sea: 1985-2004 XLS
- Internet Links:
- e-Digest: Oil spills and operational discharges
- e-Digest: Waste and Recycling
- Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (CEFAS)
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Page last modified: 20 February 2006
Page published: 10 September 2003