Circular European maritime manufacturing Industry – European level

The Clean Industrial Deal is the new EU plan for industry competitiveness, aiming to turn the decarbonization agenda into business opportunities for European industries. It focuses on energy-intensive industries and the clean-tech sector. One key element of this Deal is circularity. The EU must secure access to materials and reduce its dependence on unreliable suppliers. To this end, in 2026, the European Commission will propose a Circular Economy Act to accelerate the circular transition and ensure the availability of scarce materials. The goal is for 24% of materials to be circular by 2030.

What does this mean for the maritime manufacturing industry in Europe?

SEA Europe – the Shipyards’ and Maritime Equipment Association of Europe – supports the Circular Economy Act’s objective of supporting market demand for secondary materials and creating a unified market for waste, with a particular focus on critical raw materials. This is relevant not only for shipbuilding but also for ship maintenance, repair, conversion, and ship’s dismantling and recycling.

SEA Europe recommends establishing and facilitating a unified market for waste to enhance the value of waste from both shipyards and dismantled ships, while also creating a viable business model for ship recycling. In this regard, the following three key points are envisioned:

1. New (circular) business models could involve European shipbuilders retaining ownership of the ships and all their materials, taking responsibility for the entire lifecycle. This approach aims for full circularity while promoting the European market.
2. In a similar approach, a unified market for second hand materials, and equipment with a certification scheme of re-manufactured / refurbished parts can further support the transition to a circular economy.
3. It is crucial that the entire value chain is covered, including both dismantling and the reuse of recycled materials. This will provide a stable supply of high-value raw materials (e.g. high grade steel) for the shipbuilding industry, and aligning with the European Commission’s  Critical Raw Materials Act. There is a need to mature the recycled material supply chain by addressing the restrictions from REACH Regulation and Waste Framework Directive, which may limit access to high-value ‘pure’ steel because of potential unknown hazardous substances present in the recycled steel.

CirclesOfLife supports the three envisioned key points of SEA-Europe for accelerating circularity in the shipbuilding industry. As CirclesOfLife, we need to focus on all phases of the ships lifecycle to facilitate circularity as a maritime ecosystem. Including, the end-of-life stage which will be impacted by the developments of the Ship Recycling Regulation which has been recently updated, and evaluated.

(Video still caption) We invite you to visit the web page Clean Industrial Deal – European Commission – A plan for EU competitiveness and decarbonisation.