A GIS Shapefile showing the extents of the Licenced Marine Disposal Sites for all
of UK, including England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey and
Isle of Man. Marine Disposal Sites are regulated under the London Convention /
London Protocol of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), wherein disposal
of waste at sea ("disposal at sea") is prohibited except for certain exempt
materials (Annex 1 at
https://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Environment/Pages/London-Convention-Protocol.aspx_
[accessed 6th June 2023]). To dispose of an exempt material at sea, a disposal
site must be identified, characterised and designated, such that reporting of
annual disposal at sea volumes can be made to the IMO biennially, and OSPAR
annually. This dataset comprises the repository of these designated sites.
Upon designation, a site is considered "Open"; available to that regulator for
licensing. If the site has had no licensed disposals in more than 5 years, it is
considered "Disused"; available to that regulator for licensing but may require
additional supporting evidence. If the site has had no licensed disposals in more
than 10 years, it is considered "Closed"; not available to that regulator for
licensing. A regulator can also request that an Open or Disused site with disposal
activity within 10 years be considered Closed on request.
A number of these sites are considered "historic" or "legacy" disposal sites,
which whilst being officially designated with the UK's ratification of the London
Convention / London Protocol, were used before the treaty came into force. Sites
identified, characterised and designated after the UK's ratification are
considered new disposal sites.
.. _https://www.imo.org/en/ourwork/environment/pages/london-convention-protocol.aspx:
https://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Environment/Pages/London-Convention-Protocol.aspx