Changes to UK rules on disposal of marine flares

Flare

British Marine, the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) are hosting a free 30-minute webinar to help individuals and businesses find out more about the future arrangements for the disposal of maritime pyrotechnics.

The webinar will be on 13 October at 5pm (GMT+1). Registration for the webinar is available now through Microsoft Teams.

In 2021 the DfT completed a consultation on the future arrangements for the disposal of maritime pyrotechnics from the pleasure boat sector. Following this consultation, a new alternative programme for the disposal of time-expired marine pyrotechnics was agreed.

The agreement means, from 1 January 2023, HM Coastguard will cease to offer a voluntary, public-facing flare disposal service to private individuals. 

The agenda for the webinar is as follows:

  • Introduction and welcome from Ross Wombwell (RW) – Head of Technical Services, British Marine
  • Consultation process and response – MCA / DfT
  • Legal position of users – MCA / DfT
  • Industry commitment – RW
  • New facilities map – RW
  • Q&A session

Earlier this year, MIN reported that Pains Wessex, a UK-based producer of pyrotechnic marine rescue distress signals, had received over 3,500 expired pyrotechnics during a series of flare amnesty days.

One response to “Changes to UK rules on disposal of marine flares”

  1. Paul Reading says:

    If they make it difficult for people to dispose of flares they will simply bag them with a brick and dump them over the side. This is why we have local authority “recycling centres” without them people would flytip.

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