LEGAL CHALLENGES IN ADDRESSING PLASTIC POLLUTION AND MARINE LITTER
AUTHOR – S. SRIMATHI* & MS. ANNA JOHN**
* STUDENT AT VELS INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & ADVANCED STUDIES (VISTAS)
** ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT SCHOOL OF LAW, VELS INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND ADVANCED STUDIES (VISTAS)
BEST CITATION – S. SRIMATHI & MS. ANNA JOHN, LEGAL CHALLENGES IN ADDRESSING PLASTIC POLLUTION AND MARINE LITTER, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (7) OF 2026, PG. 587-589, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.
ABSTRACT
Plastic pollution and marine litter have emerged a criminal environmental challenges with far- reaching ecological, and public health impacts and it also affect the living organisms in the sea. Despite the existence of multiple international conventions, national legislations, and reginal framework, the legal response to this issues remains fragmented and often inadequate. Gaps in enforcement, jurisdiction conflicts over marine areas, lack of uniform definition of plastic waste, and the transboundary nature of the marine litter complicate effective regulations. Furthermore, balancing environmental protection with economic and trade considerations poses additional hurdles. This paper examines the legal challenges in addressing plastic pollution and marine litter, focusing on limitations in existing legal instruments, cooperative, and enforceable legal framework the harmonizes global, regional and national effects to combat the escalating crisis of plastic pollution in the marine environment.
Significant judicial interventions, most notably Sathish v. Union of India (Delhi High Court) this case involved pollution from industrial activities and led to the High Court directing authorities to initiate action against polluters, including criminal prosecution and demolition of illegal structures. The case law later transferred to the National Green Tribunal for further monitoring.
This paper examines the existing legal framework, case laws, and enforcement mechanism related to plastic pollution and marine litter, which focus on impact to the environment.