Abstract
A fundamental problem exists with waste disposal in marine-based oil spill clean up, as up to ten times more waste can be generated than the actual spill. Unfortunately, lessons learnt are rarely recognised until the clean up operation has finished and oiled waste has accumulated.
This report will highlight the importance of developing a proactive waste management strategy, using existing data and the author's own practical experiences.
A number of documented reports support the authors argument that waste disposal and its subsequent management is a major reason that oil spills have been quoted as ‘economical disasters’ and this paper suggests waste management be a major consideration in oil spill clean up strategy.
This report challenges the effectiveness of the UK and European initiatives that highlight areas of consideration influencing waste disposal options and the surrounding management structure, and questions whether these concepts alone are powerful enough tools.
This paper is supported by existing reports, the author's practical experience and a pending paper, co-authored, on current waste disposal options for IPIECA's technical document series.
