Protection of the maritime environment is an important issue on national and international agendas. This has resulted in European Directive 2000/59/EC on port reception facilities for ship-generated waste and cargo residues. The directive has been incorporated into Dutch law as part of the Prevention of Pollution from Ships Act (PPSA).
A clause in this directive stipulates that EU member state ports are obliged to implement a Port Waste Plan. Amsterdam, Beverwijk, IJmuiden, Velsen and Zaanstad ports have drafted a joint plan.

North Sea Canal Zone Port Waste Plan (HAP/PWP)
The Port Waste Plan details the organization, processes, communications, finances and measures to be taken for the North Sea Canal Zone. The plan took effect on 01 November 2004 requiring every ship to offload its ship waste and cargo residue to the port reception facility. The Port of Amsterdam provides facilities for every type of waste.

Indirect Financing & Discharge Allowance
The EU is of the opinion that every ship should pay a financial contribution towards the collection, transportation and processing costs incurred for handling ship waste. This is why ships are levied regardless of whether they offload any ship waste or not. This reduces the financial advantages to be gained by discharging waste at sea. Every ship is granted a discharge allowance on payment of the levy. The discharge allowance grants the ship the right to offload certain waste products at the quayside. If the ship does not discharge any waste, then the discharge allowance lapses.

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