French eco organisation APER has received a new approval for the period to 31 December 2029.
APER (Association for Eco-Responsible Plaisance), an initiative of the Federation of Nautical Industries (FIN), has received its latest validation to continue to organise and manage the deconstruction and recycling sector for pleasure boats at the end of their life.
APER first received approval in 2019 to manage the sector – the first in the world – and has so far deconstructed around 11,000 boats in France.
The eco-organisation has around a hundred members – around 90% of the units placed on the French market – and achieves a recovery rate of 73% of waste using a network of 35 treatment centres that have been approved for the dismantling of boats when they have reached the end of their life.
Over the next five years, APER will consolidate its activities based on a variety of factors including the demands on its services, the market for new boats and an economic assessment of its activities.
Projects to be completed during this approval period will include strengthening the territorial network in mainland France and in the DROM COM territories that don’t already have their own centres.
There will also be continued financial support for boaters in relation to the costs involved in transporting their boats to a recycling centre and integrating environmental criteria into the eco-contribution scale.
APER also plans to carry out further research particularly on the recovery, recycling and reuse of materials.
APER provides a free of charge service for boat owners to have their pleasure craft dismantled and recycled.
The deconstruction is funded by a mandatory eco-contribution that is collected from the sale of new boats in France which is supplemented by a share of the annual tax on boats for personal use.
The new approval comes at a time when nine boats were recovered from the Argens River in France with support from APER.
