The tsunami of plastic: the adequacy of South Africa law to address the marine plastic crisis with the intervention of the international plastic treaty.

Abstract

Plastic, a fossil fuel-based invention, is choking our planet with the consequence of depleting natural resources, exacerbating climate change, obliterating ecosystems and polluting our oceans all in the name of convenience. Little has been done legally to put an end to the plastic that is plaguing our oceans. However, international role players have identified plastic pollution as a crisis that requires urgent international intervention through the development of the International Plastic Treaty to eliminate plastic in the environment by 2040. This legally binding instrument will be the first of its kind and while there was intention to finalise the Treaty by December 2024, negotiations are still ongoing. These discussions have thus far contributed to the penning of a revised zero draft with provisions addressing the full life cycle of plastic. On the other hand, South Africa’s provisions relating to plastic and its resultant pollution are scattered throughout its environmental legislation, lacking cohesion and synergy. The Treaty specifically requires a holistic, full-lifecycle approach to the plastic pandemic, as it has identified that in order to combat marine plastic pollution, all facets of the plastic lifecycle need to be closely regulated. It is not sufficient for plastic pollution to be regulated without recognising that plastic production is the root cause of the tsunami of plastic that is drowning our planet. While the provisions that deal with plastic pollution in South Africa are strewn across its existing statutory framework much like the plastic in our oceans, the conclusion is that South Africa can avoid drowning in this tsunami of plastic by enacting new legislation that takes an eco-centric approach rather than an anthropocentric one, acknowledging that the environment is just as important as socio-economic considerations when aiming to achieve sustainable development and by aligning with the elements of the Treaty in order to protect our planet.