Environmental Report 1998 Index

Next Section

Waste Management Wastes from offshore oil platforms need to be managed in the same way as for any industrial site in the UK; the organisation creating the waste has to make sure that segregation, transportation, and eventual disposal of waste is well managed. Legislation prohibits the dumping of any types of refuse into the sea. Waste materials produced on offshore installations falls into three broad categories: The first category includes materials such as wood, plastics, used paper and scrap metal. These kinds of materials are treated as non-hazardous or general waste. Other materials such as oil soaked rags, empty paint tins, used engine oil, and used batteries are treated as 'hazardous waste'. Onshore specialist waste contractors are normally used to assist in the disposal of these kinds of waste. The third category of wastes relates to unused or recovered specialist chemicals or drilling mud. These are returned to shore as bulk waste and in most cases are recycled or reused by specialist suppliers. The key to good waste management is segregation. Many oil companies employ sophisticated waste segregation schemes with colour-coded bins, customised containers, and onsite contamination checks. Under these kinds of management systems, scrap metal, wood waste, and paper might be segregated in order to facilitate onshore recycling. Unfortunately, in some cases, the relatively small amount of storage space on offshore facilities limits the degree to which comprehensive segregation can be achieved offshore. Some offshore operators focus on initiatives to reduce both the volume and 'degree of hazard' of wastes. Consumables such as lubricants or degreasers may be purchased in large drums rather than small spray cans; citrus based degreasers may be used where possible. Waste reduction targets may also be set. Since an oil company's responsibility for its waste does not end when the material comes ashore, many companies carry out audits of their onshore contractors in order to ensure their waste is being properly disposed of. In 1994, UKOOA carried out a review of waste management on North Sea Platforms. The results of the study in Fig. 9 are indicative of the amounts of different kinds of waste produced on a typical North Sea platform.