Superyachts can produce a significant amount of rubbish and waste, which is strictly managed in accordance with MARPOL regulations while at sea. When in port, however, regulation requires marinas to provide ‘adequate reception facilities’ – a loose term that leaves marinas able to provide as much, or as little, waste management facilities as they like.

This means that many marinas do not provide credible and adequate recycling stations, with many yachts left frustrated at their inability to recycle properly ashore. To make matters worse, the contracts that some marinas have with their municipal supplier are not always transparent and sometimes sees recycling being taken to landfill or burned illegally.

The Clean Superyacht Marina campaign has been set up to investigate current facilities in superyacht marinas worldwide, and hopes to start a dialogue between marina operators and the superyacht industry to improve the current facilities and contracts. In addition to recycling and general waste management, the campaign will also be looking at black and grey water facilities and shore power generation.

Founder of the campaign David Gates speaks to hundreds of yacht crew during his day job running Superyacht Rubbish and receives many comments that the facilities in the marinas they visit are not up to standard. The feedback Gates receives tends to focus on three key issues:

·      Marinas do not have recycling facilities;

·      If a marina does have recycling facilities, the separated recycling is mixed together upon collection;

·      Marina waste management contracts tend to be private, meaning a lack of transparency about how and where the waste is being processed.

The launch of the Clean Superyacht Marina campaign took place on 12 December, 2019 at Astilleros de Mallorca. Gates is calling crew to action and asking them to send in their own photos and comments on the facilities and infrastructure they experience when it comes to waste management in marinas.

For more information about the campaign, please click here.

Click here to become part of The Superyacht Group community, and join us in our mission to make this industry accessible to all, and prosperous for the long-term. We are offering access to the superyacht industry’s most comprehensive and longstanding archive of business-critical information, as well as a comprehensive, real-time superyacht fleet database, for just £10 per month, because we are One Industry with One Mission. Sign up here.