It is no secret that a solution must be found to dispose of boats that are no longer in use. Private individuals who find abandoned boats along the coast or rivers see the ecological and visual interest. Professionals also think that it is a solution to renew the fleet, and therefore an opportunity to sell new boats.
Everyone agrees, all that remains is to find the solution. And this solution is not simple. Built in wood, the boats of our grandfathers rotted in a few years. But since the 60's, boats are mainly made of plastic. A material that has a nasty tendency not to age. Deconstructing a boat is expensive, so is recycling it.
Currently, France has set up an industry to offer a solution to owners. Piloted by the Federation of Nautical Industries (FIN), the APER association (Association for Eco-Responsible Yachting) has been working for almost 10 years on the subject. Today, an industry exists. It announces to recycle about 500 boats per year.
Even if these are small boats, often from sailing schools, easy to transport to recycling sites, the solution is in place. But it is not viable for the larger units which require transport from their storage place (at sea) to the dismantling areas. The main problem is financial.
To dismantle a pleasure boat costs between 400 and 3000 euros. This cost is broken down into 30% for transport, 50% for decontamination/deconstruction and 20% for waste treatment and disposal. How to explain to an owner who wants to get rid of his boat that he has to pay several thousands of euros?
Financing deconstruction by buying new
A bill was presented in February 2016 to the National Assembly. Spearheaded by Ségolène Royal, it proposes to introduce a tax on the price of new boats. No final figures or percentages have really been disclosed. On the one hand, there is talk of less than 1% of the sale price while the detractors of the law announce 10%!
Everyone agrees, professionals first, to develop the deconstruction industry. But considering the difficulties to sell a boat in France, it is difficult to imagine that the price will increase with an additional taxâeuros¦ Don't we risk to see all the customers running away and simply going to look for the same boat in a foreign country? Or even to register it elsewhere if necessary. Not to mention that the share of new boats remains very low in the transactions. Most of the boats are sold second hand, and will therefore not be impacted by this tax.
If nothing changes, the implementation of this tax is scheduled for 1 January 2010 er january 2017. We are in a situation where everyone agrees to approve the problem and to seek solutions. All that is missing is a consultation.
