On 21 September, Copenhagen Business School hosted the closing conference of the project "Creating Circular Economy Clusters for Sustainable Ship Recycling in Denmark". At the conference, the main results of the project were presented.
On 21 September, Copenhagen Business School hosted the closing conference of the project “Creating Circular Economy Clusters for Sustainable Ship Recycling in Denmark” At the conference, the main results of the project were presented.
The project is a research collaboration between Copenhagen Business School (CBS Maritime) and University of Southern Denmark (Blue SDU) and the consultancies MARLOC and LITEHAUZ with input from Danish Shipping and Danish Maritime. The project has received a generous financial support from The Danish Maritime Fund.
Time and date: 21 September, 10:00-14:00 (light breakfast will be served on campus from 09:00)
Venue: CBS Executive – Auditorium PHRS20, Porcelænshaven 22, 2000 Frederiksberg and online via Zoom
Program:
10:00-12:00 PART I
– Welcome
– Presentation of project results by Henrik Sornn-Friese (Associate Professor and Director of CBS Maritime at Copenhagen Business School) and Eva Roth (Associate Professor at University of Southern Denmark)
– The view from a Danish ”green ship recycling company” (Eva Olsen, HSEQ at Smedegaarden)
– Presentation of ”Sailing towards the circular economy” by Leonidas Milios (Postdoctoral Fellow at The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics)
12:00-13:00
– Networking lunch
13:00-14:00 PART II
– Panel debate (moderated by Frank Stuer-Lauridsen, Environmental Risk Assessment Consultant and CEO at Litehauz)
– Wrap up and ways ahead
Background:
The project has explored the prospects for a circular business ecosystem for end-of-life shipping assets in Denmark. On the one hand, with the tightening of international ship recycling regulation (e.g., the EU ship recycling regulation, the adoption of the Basel Convention Ban Amendment and the pending adoption of the Hong Kong Convention) we would expect to see a general upgrading of ship recycling worldwide to meet stricter environmental and safety requirements, and a potential leveling out of the cost advantages so far enjoyed by facilities in South Asia. This development seems to be supported by private initiatives (such as, the Poseidon Principles or the Responsible Ship Recycling Standard). On the other hand, the development towards circular economy, which is also taking hold in Danish and European policies and regulation, could support a lucrative business case for European ship recycling facilities and maritime suppliers able to comply with the strengthened requirements.
The present study has explored the potential for Danish yards and maritime industry, addressing questions regarding the size and composition of the relevant near-end-of-life fleet, the structure and capabilities of the Danish yards and maritime industry and a deeper analysis of the market for ship recycling in Denmark, including the pricing of end-of-life shipping assets and the nature of transactions. The study found that the structure and capabilities of the ports, yards and maritime industry places Denmark in a favourable position to develop its ship recycling industry around circular economy principles, but that significant barriers must be overcome both in terms of location and public acceptance as well as market strategies and price formation. In addition, for ship recycling in Denmark to become truly circular, there must be closer coordination between ports, yards and maritime suppliers where business models are developed around a lifecycle perspective on ships.