MARPOL allows unprocessed food waste to be discharged into the sea from vessels proceeding at a distance not less than 12 nautical miles from the nearest land. However, according to Gard not all coastal states define their ‘nearest land boundary’ in the same way.
According to Gard, a vessel was detained in Australian for illegally discharging food waste into Australian waters. The alleged incident took place when the vessel was 13 nautical miles (nm) from shore.
In addition, before this incident,...
https://safety4sea.com/gard-complying-with-food-waste-discharge-regulations/