The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal was recently amended to treat plastic waste as hazardous. Further, an amendment to the Convention has recently come into force, prohibiting the export of hazardous waste from participating developed countries to participating developing countries. While this is all good, and adds to the legal arsenal against the scourge of plastic waste, it does not stop the proliferation of plastic waste. The Convention of the Law of the Sea does include some basic principles for the protection of the marine environment, but its reliance on incorporation by reference has meant that regulations on marine pollution have effectively only been adopted for ship-source pollution, and not land-based pollution.

The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) has also been seized of the issue. Informed by the principles of common but differentiated responsibility (CBDR) and the polluter pays principle, this working paper builds on the UNEA’s Ad Hoc Open-Ended Expert Group on Marine Litter and Microplastics (AHEG)’s proposal for a “Global Architecture for Marine Plastic” (GAMP). It proposes a Global Architecture for Plastics Plus (GAP+) consisting of a global framework agreement, supported by regional plastic treaties and regionally-determined plastic waste elimination commitments, plus a global market-based crediting mechanism (MBCM) to deliver and implement appropriate technology development and transfer (TDT) in each region, as well as funding environmental and ecological restoration efforts. The GAP+ should therefore catalyse and accelerate the efforts and ambitions of states and regions, as well as the private sector, in adopting the necessary actions and technologies to eliminate plastic waste, especially in the marine environment.