France’s pleasure boat dismantling organisation Association pour la Plaisance Eco-Responsable (APER) has approved and opened a new processing centre in Saint-Fons, on the outskirts of Lyon, France.
The new centre will be operated by the Nicollin Group, and represents a new chapter in the territorial coverage of the yacht dismantling sector in France.
The new location will help to reduce the logistical costs of transporting yachts at the end of their life to processing centres.
Saint-Fons is close to a range of inland navigation areas including lakes and reservoirs where boating is prevalent.
The APER network was created in 2009 by the Federation of Nautical Industries (FIN), to bring together manufacturers and importers of pleasure craft.
Waste treatment
Companies first placing boats on the market contribute towards the waste treatment.
APER was approved in 2019 and is responsible for the recycling of end-of-life pleasure and sports boats.
The APER handles the whole dismantling process after the boat is delivered to the dismantling centre, with the service provider decontaminating the boat, dismanting it, and recovering as many recovered materials as possible.
The APER also takes care of de-registration and de-flagging, in collaboration with the maritime and customs administrations.
The network has been steadily growing since first launch with nearly 40 centres including the first overseas operation approved earlier in 2025.
The scheme covers boats and pleasure boats from 2.5 metres to 24 metres in length.
Since 2019, 13,104 boats have been taken care of by the APER in approved treatment centres.
Brittany has dismantled the majority of boats with the latest figure standing at 4,717, with PACA dismantling 2,467, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region 1,487 and the Pays de la Loire region dismantling 1,354.
