DUMPING of sewage sludge at sea will soon be prohibited worldwide following an amendment to the London Protocol treaty.

The London Protocol is the modernised version of the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972, otherwise known as the London Convention.

The International Maritime Organization announced on Monday an amendment to the protocol will remove sewage sludge from a list of wastes that may be considered for dumping at sea.

IMO said substantial volumes of sewage sludge was permitted to be dumped at sea decades ago under the London Convention and the London Protocol.

“However, the London Convention and protocol parties previously commissioned a world-wide review of current practices of managing or dumping sewage sludge at sea,” it said.

“The last meeting concluded that the practice had declined considerably over recent decades, that it was already prohibited under many regional conventions and through domestic legislation, and that alternatives existed for the use of the sewage sludge.”

The IMO is the secretariat for the London Convention and protocol. The amendment was adopted by contracting parties’ consultative meetings at IMO headquarters from 3-7 October.

Contracting parties reportedly agreed there was sufficient evidence and justification for amending Annex 1 of the London Protocol to remove sewage sludge from the list of permissible wastes.

“Under the London Protocol all dumping is prohibited, except for possibly acceptable wastes on the so-called ‘reverse list’,” IMO said, referring to Annex 1.

The list of materials which may be considered for dumping at sea will now include dredged material (the bulk of material given permits); fish wastes; inert, inorganic geological material; specific bulky items; vessels and platforms or other manmade structures at sea; organic material of natural origin; and carbon dioxide streams from carbon dioxide capture processes.

The proposal to amend the treaty was submitted by the Republic of Korea and Mexico.

The amendment will enter into force for each contracting party immediately on notification of its acceptance, or 100 days after the date of the adoption if that is later.