European recycling yards handled just 5% of the tonnage from 706 EU-flagged and/or EU-owned ships dismantled between 2019 and 2025, while 66% went to beaches in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, according to NGO Shipbreaking Platform and T&E.
EU facilities recycled 22% of the vessels by number. Nearly half of the ships were beached in the three South Asian countries, while most of the remainder were dismantled in Turkey. The study found that 102 vessels switched from an EU flag shortly before scrapping to avoid stricter EU recycling rules.
The capacity gap was particularly stark in 2020. EU yards had capacity for 2.1m light displacement tonnes (LDT), against 1.4m LDT of EU-owned ships dismantled globally that year. More than two-thirds of that tonnage went to beaches in South Asia.
At least six to eight EU yards can recycle vessels up to 330 metres long, meaning every ship beached in 2020 could have been accommodated in Europe, the study concluded.
“This is not just an environmental issue. It is a profound failure of EU industrial strategy, prioritising strategic resilience and material autonomy on paper, while in reality letting valuable steel be lost to third markets. The EU speaks of reducing dependence on imported critical materials, yet, it lets its shipowners evade regulations and export millions of tonnes of recoverable steel that could be processed domestically. This is not strategic autonomy,” NGO Shipbreaking Platform policy officer Philippine Bernard said.
The EU Waste Shipment Regulation bars ships that become waste in EU waters from export to non-OECD countries, while the EU Ship Recycling Regulation requires EU-flagged vessels to use EU-approved facilities.
The study says reflagging and claims that vessels will remain in operation are used to bypass those restrictions.
South Asian beaching involves dismantling ships directly on tidal mudflats without containment, creating risks of hazardous-material discharges into water and soil and unsafe working conditions.
The European Commission in July announced plans to add the first beaching facilities to the EU-approved list, a move opposed by NGO Shipbreaking Platform and T&E.
Up to 95% of a ship’s weight can be recycled as scrap steel. A previous study estimated that almost 12,000 EU-owned ships would reach end of life over the next decade and could yield up to 12m tonnes of steel annually.
“Secondary steel production via electric arc furnaces using recycled scrap is one of the most effective pathways to decarbonise the sector. By outsourcing its valuable scrap, the EU is starving its own green steel transition of feedstock,” NGO Shipbreaking Platform policy manager Benedetta Mantoan said.
The study calls for an explicit EU ban on beaching, closure of reflagging loopholes and continued support for higher ship-recycling standards.
NGO Shipbreaking Platform is a coalition of environmental, human rights and labour rights organisations focused on ship recycling.