The address of Reciclauto Navarra S.L.the company that leads Recyship, European Life 07 project ENV/ 000787 announced that ship decontamination work has been successfully launched in the town of Aveiro, just 70 kilometres south of Porto, Portugal. The work was carried out at the firm's shipyard in Aveiro, just 70 kilometres south of Porto, Portugal. Navalriaalso a partner in Recyship, European Life 07 project ENV/ 000787, y in accordance with the criteria of sustainability, health surveillance and respect for the environment set out in that programme.

"The reason to rejoice is twofold"as explained in Reciclauto. On the one hand, it has been shown that "we were not wrong"and that "Controlled and sustainable management of an end-of-life ship or BFU in Europe is possible."they added. They added, Miguel Ángel García MolinaThe General Director of Reciclauto Navarracommented that "we are very satisfied because the prototypes we have been working on for the last three years have not only fulfilled their function in their premiere in the port, but have also exceeded all the expectations we had placed on them.".

The first of these developments that have proved their worth is a '.tick robot', devised by the Basque technology centre Tecnaliaanother partner of Recyship, European Life 07 project ENV/ 000787and whose function is practice 'caesarean sections' on the decks and steel sides of the ship to facilitate the subsequent removal of components such as engines, cooling systems, cookers and similar...

Likewise, from the Reciclauto has been designed a paint stripping machine which, by means of an innovative shot blasting system, facilitates the cleaning of steel in a sustainable way. Lastly, the technicians of the Sarriguren-based entity are also behind a purification system that guarantees the complete separation of water and oil inside the shed and are thus managed much more efficiently and comprehensively.

Recyship, European Life 07 project ENV/ 000787 3.5 million is endowed with EUR 3.5 million by LifeThe European Union's main financial instrument in the field of the environment. This initiative, led by Navarre's leading environmental consultancy, is now in its final stages and those in charge of the project are looking forward to the next phase of the project. The European Commission has the capacity to promote a new industry specialised in the decontamination and dismantling of end-of-life ships in Spain and Europe.  

For this purpose, a few days before the work in Portugal, representatives of the Reciclauto Navarra S.L. came to Madrid to theInternational Trade Fair for Urban Planning and the Environment, TECMA 2012where they announced their intention to launch a new programme next year. no less than six BFUs management facilities, spread between Spain and Portugal, with an average treatment of 100,000 tonnes per year and the generation of about 55 jobs, respectively..

THE FUTURE AND THE EU

The results obtained in Aveiro confirmed to the directors of the Navarrese company that they are currently looking for investors interested in participating in their industrial project. An initiative which, they insist, ".could make Spain a leader in the decontamination of end-of-life ships.".

In time, could boost the generation of new jobs in towns and coastal areas that have suffered a significant process of deindustrialisation, unemployment and social exclusion. due to the industrial reconversion processes that many of them underwent in the last decades of the last century.

From Reciclauto NavarraFinally, they are working with various national and international policy makers to to put an end to the current legal uncertainty that exists in Spain and Europe regarding the treatment of end-of-life ships as waste.BFUs. This work has been well received and is also supported by the approval of the European Commission's Environment Directorate-General and the results of which are expected to be presented at a forthcoming international conference in the autumn.

A complete sequence of the work carried out at Navalria's shipyard in Aveiro can be found at in this web link.