Disposing of out of date flares 

Flares are ultimately explosives, therefore once they are past their useful lifespan it is essential that they are disposed of carefully.

It is illegal to dump flares at sea, illegal to dump them on land and illegal to let them off in anything other than an emergency.

Although in the past people have reported successfully leaving their flares with the police, fire brigade or the local rubbish tip, the correct routes for the recreational boater to dispose of out of date flares are the supplier of their replacement flares, their life raft service agent or the Coastguard. 

The Coastguard arrangements for the disposal of out of date flares are in the process of changing. A new contact is in place for this service which is being phased in between December 2009 and March 2010. From 1 April 2010 the collection and disposal service will have transferred from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to Ramora UK Ltd of Portsmouth, which will operate the collection and disposals service from 18 MCA locations.

The 18 locations selected by the MCA are well spread across the country and have been selected as they are reasonably accessible. They should therefore meeting the majority of the public demand. They are:

• Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centres:
  • Shetland
  • Stornoway
  • Belfast
  • Liverpool
  • Holyhead
  • Milford
  • Falmouth
  • Brixham
  • Solent
  • Dover
  • Thames
  • Humber
  • Forth
• Inverness Sector Base
• North Norfolk Sector Base
• Cruden Bay Coastguard Rescue Office
• Girvan Coastguard Rescue Office
• and a location at Poole (TBC)

Not all of these sites are manned 24 hours a day, but full details of locations, contact details and opening times can be confirmed on the MCA web-site www.mcga.gov.uk.

During the transition period of January and March 2010, reference should be made to the MCA web-site for the latest information on how to arrange to deposit out of date flares.