Authors: Mehwish Talib & Peter Odrich

Abstract:

The problem of plastic pollution, from rising production, through century-long lifespans and the uncertain danger of micro plastics, is now almost universally acknowledged and addressed in different ways across the globe. Its adverse effects related to climate change, chemical pollution and biodiversity, and its dangerous dynamics only allow to debate how, not if, plastic pollution is to be approached. However, the potential approaches are numerous and depend on a large variety of external factors. This paper examines those potentials in relation to paths already taken in Germany and Pakistan, and does so from a legal point of view using a comparative law approach, allowing for a classification along some overarching tendencies such as plastic reduction vs. plastic waste management and recycling, binding supranational law vs. voluntary international agreements, measure-oriented vs. system-building, market-based vs. ordo-liberal approaches. Schematically, these contrasting tendencies correspond to the approaches chosen in Germany and Pakistan, and may thus allow for a critical evaluation beyond single measures.

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