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ENVIRONMENT REPORT
2016
Waste Composition and Disposal
Last year, drill cuttings returned to shore were mainly made up of hazardous solids, hazardous oils and other
hazardous liquids, such as oily water, with 11 per cent being non-hazardous. Solids and liquids are classified as
hazardous if they contain small amounts of oil.
Sludges, liquids and tank washings make up over half of wastes from operational and decommissioning activities
(56 per cent), with over 92,000 tonnes returned to shore last year. Liquid wastes are generally not separated from
one another offshore due to physical space restrictions, giving rise to such a sizeable category.
Wastes are processed to separate hydrocarbons and heavy metals from solids and other liquids. The liquids are
then treated for safe discharge to the sewer system, while the remaining materials can be used in renewable
energy facilities such as anaerobic digesters
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. Oil is recovered and usually reused as a fuel source and the cleaned
solids are disposed of in a landfill.
The offshore industry generated over 4,300 tonnes of scrap metal from decommissioning in 2015, a significant
increase on the 2014 figure of 1,900 tonnes, which was all reused or recycled. Over 95 per cent of the total
decommissioning waste last year was reused or recycled.
Figure 16: Operational and Decommissioning Waste Generated Offshore by Category in 2015
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
80,000
90,000
100,000
Sludges/
Liquids/Tank
Washings
Scrap Metal General Waste Segregated
Recyclables
Miscellaneous
Special Waste
Oils
Chemicals/
Paints
Drums/
Containers
Other*
Waste Disposed (Tonnes)
Total Disposed Operational
Total Disposed Decommissioning
*Other includes wastes such as asbestos, clinical waste, construction materials,
explosives and radioactive materials
Source: EEMS July 2016
Last year, 98 per cent of waste (216,500 tonnes) was brought to shore in the UK, with just 1 per cent transferred
to the Netherlands for processing. The disposal route for 1 per cent of waste was categorised as “not applicable”
or was not specified.
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Anaerobic digestion is the breakdown of biodegradable material by micro-organisms in the absence of oxygen.