OCE-B.04.B - End-of-Life Management Policy
Does the company demonstrate a documented policy or process ensuring that equipment, infrastructure and/or products are reused, recycled or properly disposed of at end of life?
About the data
The WBA Ocean Benchmark measures and ranks the world's most influential companies on their efforts to halt and reverse nature loss in marine ecosystems, tracking how companies manage their impacts on ocean biodiversity, marine habitats, and the communities and workers dependent on healthy seas. The 2026 edition is WBA's first Ocean Benchmark, assessing 125 companies across key sectors dependent on oceans, including seafood, maritime transport, offshore wind energy, shipbuilding, port operations, apparel, and chemicals. Companies are assessed on 47 indicators across four measurement areas: governance, ecosystems and biodiversity, social responsibility, and core social indicators. The benchmark builds on WBA's Nature Benchmark and the former Seafood Stewardship Index, and its methodology was developed with input from more than 50 stakeholders including ocean communities, companies, scientists and civil society, with human rights and social impacts kept at its core alongside nature-specific concerns. More information can be found here.
Methodology
Assessing the end-of-life impact of equipment and infrastructure from industries is crucial
to ensure that their growth does not come at the expense of the health and resilience of our oceans.
This involves evaluating the end-of-life processes and protocols and implementing strategies to
minimise negative impacts. For instance, in the case of shipping, the end-of-life stage comprises ship
breaking or ship recycling, during which various types of waste are generated, many of which are
hazardous. In the case of other industries, such as offshore wind or aquaculture, infrastructure
decommissioning can cause adverse environmental impacts, from marine debris to habitat alterations.
Companies should properly manage equipment and infrastructure at the end-of-life stage to reduce
environmental impacts (SDG 14.1) and human health and safety (SDG 13).
Research Guidance:
This element is met if the company demonstrates having documented policy (or a process within an approved management plan) regarding end-of-life of infrastructures, assets, equipment and/or products.
For some sectors, one should look for life cycle assessment by the company and how the company has documented policy (or a process within an approved management plan), including all stages of the cycle (which should include end-of-life stage)
This process is committed to being sustainable, secure, accountable, and environmentally friendly and compliant with relevant international and regional regulations.
Companies owning vessels (Transport, cruise lines, fishing, Offshore Wind, Cargo or products transports or oil and gas assets) must demonstrate they follow:
ALL (1-3) of [SN1]these principles in their ship recycling policy:
1)Compliance with the Basel Convention of Transboundary Movement of Waste and the BAN (Basel Action Network)Amendment (no hazard waste from OECD to non-OECD countries), and the Hong Kong international convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of ships.
2)Vessels are not recycled in yards operating the beaching method, according to the annual list of all vessels gone for dismantling published by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform Annual Lists - NGO Shipbreaking Platform (open access and includes the name of the beneficial owners of the ship)
3)The company does not use the services of scrap intermediaries (also called cash buyers) or does not sell the end-of-life vessels to intermediaries but instead engage directly with the recycling yard and enter in a recycling contract with the yard.
OR
4)Compliance withEU Ship Recycling Regulation and the explicit ban of the beaching method, well known to be related to higher risks of environmental pollution and less investment in the protection of workers.
Note: if company is European and vessels have European flags, then this element is met if the company shows compliance with the European Union Ship Recycling Regulation (EU SRR).
Decommissioning of infrastructures: require environmental and safety assessment or plan for decommissioning.
Shipbuilding and design: when planning on building or adapting ships, the company selects vessels built or retrofitted vessels with the end-of-ife cycle in mind.
Other sectors must demonstrate a documented policy/pan about equipment/assets/infrastructure/products identified in element a).
This element is also met, if the company demonstrates it holds certificates that address the environmental impacts of its activities across the entire lifecycle but needs to specifically mention end-of-life disposal/treatment.
Disclaimer: company certificate needs to specifically mention they cover this topic. There are no certificates that cover all points for vessels, companies need to mention each point: the company complies with Basel Convention, Waste Shipment Regulation (basically the Basel in EU terms), and Hog Kong convention or EU Ship recycling Regulation (which regulate only EU flagged vessels) and that it does not use the beaching method.
Types of conventions/guidelines they can mention:
Hong Kong International Convention for Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships
OSPAR Convention
IMO, decommissioning guidelines
The company must mention the certification that it covers having a documented policy (or a process within an approved management plan) regarding end-of-life of infrastructures, equipment and/or products. ; otherwise, the element is not met.
For instance, ISO 14040/44 establishes a framework for conducting LCAs, which provide insights into the environmental impacts of materials and processes. However, these standards alone may not confirm whether a company's end-of-life processes specifically address non-plastic materials. Without additional details in the company's disclosures, referencing ISO 14040/44 could risk redundancy, especially when considering overlaps with indicators like B03.
ISO 14001:2015, on the other hand, is a comprehensive standard for Environmental Management Systems, covering diverse aspects of environmental performance. While this framework includes general principles for waste and resource management, it is too broad to be relied upon as evidence of specific end-of-life policies. Its inclusion may dilute the focus on end-of-life practices, as it does not explicitly mandate processes for re-use, recycling, or proper disposal of materials.
Example of certifications that partly covers end-of-life: Green Marine and
to ensure that their growth does not come at the expense of the health and resilience of our oceans.
This involves evaluating the end-of-life processes and protocols and implementing strategies to
minimise negative impacts. For instance, in the case of shipping, the end-of-life stage comprises ship
breaking or ship recycling, during which various types of waste are generated, many of which are
hazardous. In the case of other industries, such as offshore wind or aquaculture, infrastructure
decommissioning can cause adverse environmental impacts, from marine debris to habitat alterations.
Companies should properly manage equipment and infrastructure at the end-of-life stage to reduce
environmental impacts (SDG 14.1) and human health and safety (SDG 13).
Research Guidance:
This element is met if the company demonstrates having documented policy (or a process within an approved management plan) regarding end-of-life of infrastructures, assets, equipment and/or products.
For some sectors, one should look for life cycle assessment by the company and how the company has documented policy (or a process within an approved management plan), including all stages of the cycle (which should include end-of-life stage)
This process is committed to being sustainable, secure, accountable, and environmentally friendly and compliant with relevant international and regional regulations.
Companies owning vessels (Transport, cruise lines, fishing, Offshore Wind, Cargo or products transports or oil and gas assets) must demonstrate they follow:
ALL (1-3) of [SN1]these principles in their ship recycling policy:
1)Compliance with the Basel Convention of Transboundary Movement of Waste and the BAN (Basel Action Network)Amendment (no hazard waste from OECD to non-OECD countries), and the Hong Kong international convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of ships.
2)Vessels are not recycled in yards operating the beaching method, according to the annual list of all vessels gone for dismantling published by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform Annual Lists - NGO Shipbreaking Platform (open access and includes the name of the beneficial owners of the ship)
3)The company does not use the services of scrap intermediaries (also called cash buyers) or does not sell the end-of-life vessels to intermediaries but instead engage directly with the recycling yard and enter in a recycling contract with the yard.
OR
4)Compliance withEU Ship Recycling Regulation and the explicit ban of the beaching method, well known to be related to higher risks of environmental pollution and less investment in the protection of workers.
Note: if company is European and vessels have European flags, then this element is met if the company shows compliance with the European Union Ship Recycling Regulation (EU SRR).
Decommissioning of infrastructures: require environmental and safety assessment or plan for decommissioning.
Shipbuilding and design: when planning on building or adapting ships, the company selects vessels built or retrofitted vessels with the end-of-ife cycle in mind.
Other sectors must demonstrate a documented policy/pan about equipment/assets/infrastructure/products identified in element a).
This element is also met, if the company demonstrates it holds certificates that address the environmental impacts of its activities across the entire lifecycle but needs to specifically mention end-of-life disposal/treatment.
Disclaimer: company certificate needs to specifically mention they cover this topic. There are no certificates that cover all points for vessels, companies need to mention each point: the company complies with Basel Convention, Waste Shipment Regulation (basically the Basel in EU terms), and Hog Kong convention or EU Ship recycling Regulation (which regulate only EU flagged vessels) and that it does not use the beaching method.
Types of conventions/guidelines they can mention:
Hong Kong International Convention for Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships
OSPAR Convention
IMO, decommissioning guidelines
The company must mention the certification that it covers having a documented policy (or a process within an approved management plan) regarding end-of-life of infrastructures, equipment and/or products. ; otherwise, the element is not met.
For instance, ISO 14040/44 establishes a framework for conducting LCAs, which provide insights into the environmental impacts of materials and processes. However, these standards alone may not confirm whether a company's end-of-life processes specifically address non-plastic materials. Without additional details in the company's disclosures, referencing ISO 14040/44 could risk redundancy, especially when considering overlaps with indicators like B03.
ISO 14001:2015, on the other hand, is a comprehensive standard for Environmental Management Systems, covering diverse aspects of environmental performance. While this framework includes general principles for waste and resource management, it is too broad to be relied upon as evidence of specific end-of-life policies. Its inclusion may dilute the focus on end-of-life practices, as it does not explicitly mandate processes for re-use, recycling, or proper disposal of materials.
Example of certifications that partly covers end-of-life: Green Marine and
License
Topics
Framework Mappings
Value Type
Category
Options
Yes
No
Assessment
Steward Assessed
Report Type
Aggregate Data Report