Singapore_ (Commonwealth Union) _ Historically, people all over the world utilized the ocean to dispose of garbage, including chemical and industrial wastes, radioactive wastes, rubbish, weapons, sewage sludge, and polluted dredging material. The harmful effects of garbage disposal on the maritime ecosystem received little attention. Even little attention was paid to the possibility of recycling or reusing such materials. Garbage was regularly dumped in coastal and ocean waterways on the idea that marine waters could mix and disseminate waste indefinitely. Parties to the treaties that govern waste dumping at sea have agreed to alter the treaties to make dumping of sewage sludge at sea illegal globally.
The London Protocol modification will remove sewage sludge from the list of wastes that may be considered for disposal at sea. The modification was accepted by the 44th Consultative Meeting of Contracting Parties to the London Convention and the 17th Meeting of Contracting Parties to the London Protocol (LC 44/LP 17), which held from 3-7 October 2022 at the headquarters of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The Secretariat for both accords is the IMO.
The amendment will become effective for each Contracting Party immediately upon notification of acceptance, or 100 days from the date of adoption, whichever comes first.
Sewage sludge is a waste that has been proposed for disposal at sea under the London Convention and Protocol. A significant amount of sewage sludge was allowed to be discharged at sea decades ago.
The London Convention and Protocol parties, on the other hand, had already commissioned a global evaluation of present procedures for managing or discharging sewage sludge at sea. The most recent conference determined that the practice had fallen significantly in recent decades, that it was already forbidden under several regional treaties and local legislation, and that alternate uses for sewage sludge existed.
The Contracting Parties decided that there was enough evidence and rationale to change Annex 1 of the London Protocol to remove sewage sludge from the list of permitted wastes. The Republic of Korea and Mexico filed the treaty amendment proposal.
