ORCID

Abstract

Plastic pollution has had a detrimental global impact, particularly in the marine environment, due to its mobility, longevity, and tendency to be difficult to retrieve. The situation has worsened because of the increased production and consumption of plastics and the fact that pollution occurs throughout the entirety of plastics’ production and lifecycle. Its pathways/vectors to the marine environment are diffuse and complex. The combined environmental, social, and potential health impacts of plastics have resulted in the development of over 40 international legal and other regulatory mechanisms, although inconsistent implementation has resulted in a fragmented framework with gaps and overlaps. The development of an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, to address the full lifecycle of plastic has progressed in parallel with this research. However, there is a gap in the literature exploring a civil (private) liability and compensation mechanism for marine plastic pollution. The concept of liability and compensation has provenance in the law of tort where an act causing harm, loss, or damage to person or property may permit an injured party to obtain compensation through civil action against the person causing the harm. The availability of civil liability mechanisms may be jurisdictional and/or organised through international legal norms. Article 235 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provides for several potential liability mechanisms which may be applied jurisdictionally or otherwise in cases of pollution of, or damage to the marine environment. In addition, State Parties are encouraged to develop liability and compensation mechanisms to assist where environmental harm is caused through pollution. However, applying private law in an environmental context is limited because the ocean is not ‘owned.’ If the manufacturers of plastics should bear a substantial burden of remediation, the question of justice – particularly where the harms are difficult to quantify – comes to the fore. As the template in international law for such a liability and compensation mechanism, this thesis contemplates whether a civil liability and compensation regime analogous to the international oil pollution regime could be applied to marine plastic pollution. The research was completed by applying a desk-based doctrinal methodology combined with a documentary analysis. The research concludes that establishing causation to identify polluters is difficult which complicates accountability because plastics enter the ocean from diffuse and point-sources, therefore both tort and non-tort-based mechanisms including complementary policies such as extended producer responsibility might offer the most viable approach to reduce marine plastic pollution.

Awarding Institution(s)

University of Plymouth

Supervisor

Jason Lowther, Richard Thompson, Joanne Sellick

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Date

2025

Embargo Period

2025-09-28

Deposit Date

September 2025

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