Legal approaches to the problem of pollution of marine environment with plastic

Plastic littering has recently become one of the most highly recognized dangers to the marine environment. The problem of marine plastic pollution is not new and was identified more than half a century ago. Recently, however, with increased media coverage and focusing events such as the discovery of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the problem can no longer be ignored. Several legal instruments address this problem. IMO norms aiming to reduce plastic debris were adopted 30 years ago. The MARPOL Convention includes annexes designed to help fight plastic debris. Other maritime legal instruments can also be leveraged to challenge this problem. As with other marine environment problems, the primary source of the problem, and thus the key to addressing it, is located on land. EU directives can serve as an interesting model for reducing marine pollution. The European Commission proposed new EU-wide rules in May, 2018 to target the 10 single-use plastic products most often found in Europe’s coastal habitats, as well as lost and abandoned fishing gear. Together these constitute 70% of all marine litter items. The adoption and implementation of this instrument may represent a game changing approach in the battle against marine pollution.