Waste Disposal and Ship Demolition

As Yang Ming has developed more energy-efficient ships and continued the expansion of service routes as a leading global ocean carrier, the replacement of old ships with new ones and the increasing waste production volume as a result of rising demand have become important issues. Effective management is achieved through policy development and by sorting, disposing of and recording/controlling the waste produced in the course of operations as well as disposing of decommissioned ships.

Onshore Waste Management Measures

• Promote waste reduction and resource recycling measures to employees quarterly.
• Implement waste sorting and recycling to ensure proper waste treatment and improve recycling quality.
• Encourage colleagues to bring their own utensils and eco-friendly cups, avoiding single-use utensils.
• Take appropriate portions at lunch to avoid waste and reduce food scraps.
• 2024 paper usage decreased by approximately 19.83% compared to 2023, and promoted paper document destruction, recycling, and reuse.
• General waste is entrusted to qualified removal contractors for transport and treatment, with each operational location handling according to local environmental regulations.
• Promote environmental education courses to cultivate employee environmental and sustainability awareness.

Disposal of Waste from Onshore Locations

Vessel Waste Management Measures 

• Onboard waste classification collection and onboard waste treatment comply with MARPOL Annex V and local environmental regulations. Yang Ming’s fleet has established garbage management plans regulating treatment of hazardous waste and solid waste generated onboard, including 5 major procedures: collection, classification, treatment, storage, and recording.
• Food waste is properly treated according to convention and port state legal requirements.
• In addition to waste and hazardous substance reduction, waste batteries/chemicals/waste fluorescent tubes/medical waste are arranged for shore recycling treatment.
• Used paper, empty barrels, empty boxes, and wooden boards are collected for reuse.
• Ships are equipped with stainless steel garbage bins marked with different colors for waste classification, with additional markings for combustible/non-combustible and recyclable/non-recyclable.
• Garbage storage areas are regularly disinfected and cleaned.
• Promote online environmental education courses to cultivate seafarer’s environmental and sustainability awareness.

Disposal of Waste from Ships at Sea

*International shipping practice calculates vessel waste discharge by volume. After annual compilation of fleet waste discharge quantities, reference relevant coefficients for conversion to weight disclosure (reference website: Volume-to Weight Conversion Factors, April 2016); oily waste content has high water proportion so calculated as 1; waste cooking oil specific gravity calculated as 0.93.

*Disposal methods depend on the related regulations of port states. The subsequent transport and handling processes are conducted by vendors deemed qualified by local ports. All waste is disposed of off-site.
*Since 2022, GHG inventory has included ship waste.
*Starting from 2024, vessel waste statistics include chartered vessels.

Ship Recycling and Disposal

Yang Ming has established a green ship demolition policy. In handling retired vessels, the Company complies with the 2009 Hong Kong Convention (HKC) regulations and protects construction worker health, human rights, and marine environment through the requirements in the table below. The Company signed to join the Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative (SRTI) in 2022, updating ship recycling measures and conditions annually on the SRTI website.
The Company did not carry out any ship demolition activities in 2024.

Green Ship Recycling Management Measures

1. Preparation of Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM): Commissioned qualified professional assessment companies to prepare, regulating operational processes.
2. Onboard sampling inspections: Areas with hazardous substances and pollutants undergo seafarers and sampling inspections by classification societies (IHM Part I).
3. Careful selection of ship recyclers: Buyers are required to select HKC and ISO certified green ship recyclers to ensure eco-friendly ship recycling.
4. Active tracking: The Company understands the situation with the buyer and ship breaker and asks them to provide a certificate and certification of completion of ship breaking.

For responding to the "2009 Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships" and "EU Ship Recycling Regulation," our owned vessels in 2024 100% have obtained IHM certification.