Strengthening Regional Co-operation on Ship Waste Management in ASEAN: From Strategy to Implementation

ASEAN faces persistent challenges in managing ship waste despite established international obligations under MARPOL and supporting regional frameworks, including the ASEAN Framework of Action on Marine Debris and the Regional Action Plan for Combating Marine Debris. Without harmonised and effective ship waste management procedures, ASEAN risks becoming a weak link in global maritime compliance, potentially undermining regional integration efforts and increasing the risk of illegal waste discharges. ASEAN’s Regional Strategy on Ship Waste Management provides a comprehensive framework for harmonising ship waste management across the region. However, implementation across ASEAN Member States remains uneven. Key constraints include inadequate port reception facilities (PRFs), inconsistent implementation, limited performance assessment, weak compliance and enforcement, and insufficient use of monitoring data to evaluate policy effectiveness.

This policy brief argues that ASEAN’s primary challenge lies not in the absence of policy, but in ensuring its consistent and effective implementation across the region. Addressing this challenge requires a co-ordinated regional approach built around four priorities: establishing an outcome-based environmental monitoring framework, prioritising strategic investment in PRFs, strengthening implementation accountability through an ASEAN Ship Waste Performance Assessment Framework, and institutionalising data-driven compliance and enforcement. Together, these measures will improve MARPOL compliance, reduce illegal ship waste discharges, strengthen evidence-based policymaking, and enhance ASEAN’s competitiveness as a sustainable maritime region.