MARPOL Annex V Reg 8: garbage reception facilities

MARPOL Annex V Regulation 8 requires each Party to ensure the provision of adequate facilities at ports and terminals for the reception of garbage “without causing undue delay to ships, and according to the needs of the ships using them”. It is the counterpart of the discharge prohibitions: garbage the Annex keeps on board has to be landed somewhere.

Reg 8.3 lets Small Island Developing States meet the duty through regional arrangements, added by resolution MEPC.216(63) with effect from 1 August 2013, and resolution MEPC.360(79) extended that route from 1 May 2024 to ports within Arctic waters of States bordering them, where a regional arrangement is the only practical means of meeting the requirement. The full article will cover adequacy, special-area facilities, the reporting of alleged inadequacies, and the facilities needed for cargo residues harmful to the marine environment, covered in Annex V HME cargo residues, E-waste and hold-wash water .