A Growing Number of Lawsuits Aim to Protect Our Ocean From Plastic Pollution

Whilst it often doesn’t feel as though we are making a dent in the plastic problem, there are always small successes happening across the world, giving us glimmers of hope that one of them might lead to a seismic change. Over the last few months, several new laws have been introduced regarding plastic use whilst many lawsuits have been filed by dedicated environmental groups against those who continue to damage our shared environment. Let’s focus on the positive and dive into some of those battles being fought by inspiring communities.

The French are famous for their frequent protests, strikes and marches which cover a whole range of issues from rising fuel taxes to poor working conditions. Now, the French are taking legal action over high levels of plastic pollution on their northern beaches. Over the last year, a vast number of tiny plastic beads have washed up on beaches across the Atlantic coast, slowly moving north and now landing in the area around Pornic. Whilst these beads, nicknamed mermaids’ tears, do often wash up on beaches, their numbers have skyrocketed recently, suggesting that a lost container ship has cracked open, with powerful storms blowing the plastic waste towards France and Spain. These microplastics are a mere 1.5mm in size, similar to a grain of rice and so cleaning them from the beaches is an endless task and it will be impossible to collect the whole containers worth. That hasn’t stopped volunteers meeting on the beaches to try though as they fill containers with all they can pick up. Surfrider Foundation Europe, the group behind the clean-ups, has said that around 160,000 tonnes of small plastic beads are lost to the environment every year in the EU, many of which end up floating in the ocean and posing as a tasty snack to marine creatures. Some will degrade into nano-plastics where they can be ingested by filter-feeding organisms like oysters, meaning this plastic could even end up back on our plates. Outraged, three local mayors and politicians from seaside towns have filed a legal complaint due to the damage the plastic is causing. Whilst it is unlikely the origin of the plastic beads will be determined, it will be interesting to follow the outcome of the case as France tightens its laws regarding plastic pollution.

This isn’t the only lawsuit against plastic polluters currently filed in France either, with activists suing a multi-national French food company as they fail to lower their plastic footprint. The company, which is most well known for bottled water and yogurt, is believed to have violated the French law of ‘duty of vigilance’ established in 2017. This law means it is mandatory for large businesses to monitor their impact on human rights and environmental issues both in their own operations and throughout their supply chain. This specific business was listed in December as one of the top 10 biggest contributors to plastic pollution and yet their submitted vigilance report, detailing their environmental and social impacts, failed to mention plastic. Campaigners are therefore insisting that they re-publish the report complete with information that admits to their accountability for plastic waste and sets out a realistic action plan to cut down their use. If this case wins, not only will it set a brilliant example for all other cases to follow but it could have a wide-reaching effect as this company has operations in 120 countries. Each year, they produce 74 times the weight of the Eiffel Tower in plastic, with the amount they use actually increasing between 2020 and 2021, despite their statement saying they were working hard to reduce plastic use and find alternative materials. It’s time companies such as this put the planet before profit and admit to their mistakes.

Many actually believe that we are soon to see a deluge of plastic lawsuits similar to this one due to an historic international deal which is soon to be established. World leaders have agreed to meet next year to create a new, legally binding treaty which will create laws surrounding the whole plastic lifecycle, from production to disposal. This will be an excellent legal tool to hold both businesses and countries accountable if they aren’t playing their part to cut down on plastic. In fact, the Philippines are already taking drastic action by filing a petition against their government who they believe have failed to tackle unregulated plastic production and dumping. Their argument states that a law established by the government in 2001, stating that they must review and act on un-environmentally friendly products, has never been implemented with no assessments or bans taking place. Communities are also saying their government have breached their right to a healthy environment as plastic pollutes water sources leading to illness, kills off fish populations destroying livelihoods and causes flooding. It is likely that we will see many more lawsuits along these lines once the international treaty is in place. We could also have an increasing number of cases focussing on greenwashing companies and the building of new plastic production plants. In Belgium, one such plant is facing an uncertain future as campaigners believe it will produce multiple negative environmental impacts whilst it also goes against the current EU strategy which aims to move away from single-use plastics.

In Australia, a soft plastic recycling scheme hit the headlines at the end of last year as they failed to safely manage and dispose of the waste. The initiative saw soft plastics collected at large supermarkets before being taken away to be recycled. Except when the company responsible began to struggle to recycle such volumes of waste, they simply stored thousands of tonnes of plastic in warehouses for months on end. 55 conservation groups have joined together to form an alliance in order to take action against the failed recycling scheme which has seen some plastic waste stockpiled since 2018 rather than be recycled or reused. In December, six warehouses were found with a total of 3,000 tonnes of plastic stacked up to the ceilings, the equivalent of half a billion plastic bags. The government has now ordered for the plastic to be removed immediately as it poses a fire hazard, however the country does not have the capacity to recycle this waste itself nor can they export it as unwashed soft plastics are not a desirable product. Therefore, unfortunately most of the waste will simply travel to landfill. This has spurred many activists on to campaign for better recycling schemes, such as kerbside collection of soft plastics as well as improved sorting facilities.

On the other side of the world in the UK, the deposit return scheme initially proposed in 2018 is finally confirmed to commence in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2025. This will see customers charged a higher price when they buy drinks but the money will be refunded if they return the waste items to reverse style vending machines which are to be set up at multiple drinks retail locations across the country. This scheme hopes to see plastic bottles and cans more frequently recycled, with similar initiatives in Germany and Finland leading to a recycling rate of 90%. Unfortunately however, the government has made a U-turn on its decision to include glass in the scheme but don’t worry, many campaign groups are already on the case! Scotland’s deposit return scheme will start a little earlier in August this year as they tackle the billions of plastic bottles and cans used each year.

By October, all single-use plastic tableware will be banned in the UK too, including plates, cutlery, polystyrene cups, food containers and bowls, although the government have stated this will not include ‘shelf ready pre-packaged food items’. This is another positive move for the country, joining cotton buds, microbeads and straws as banned plastic items. Each year in the UK, 4.25 billion pieces of single-use plastic cutlery are used, with only 10% recycled; no wonder food and drinks related items are the largest contributor to ocean plastic pollution. Whilst this is great news, many are not happy that biodegradable plastic is not currently included in the ban. This type of plastic often does not break down in the natural environment and will therefore still contribute to the surge of plastic on our shorelines and waterways.

Last but not least is another recent win for the ocean in Australia, although this time it is not so much to do with plastic. The country has recently announced that they have rejected the proposal for a new open-cut coal mine which was set to be located a mere 10 kilometres from the famous and fragile Great Barrier Reef. They have cited the risk of irreversible environmental damage as the reason, with surface run off, pollution and promotion of fossil fuel use which will contribute to climate change as extremely dangerous for the local reef and seagrass meadows. This is the first time Australia has seen a federal environment minister use their powers to reject a mine, showing a great step forward for this country which still heavily relies on fossil fuels. Instead, they have pledged one billion Australian dollars to protecting the reef by setting up water quality schemes and climate adaption measures. 

So whilst negative new stories might capture the headlines and stick in the back of your mind for longer, there is plenty of inspiring and positive work taking place in the hope of saving our oceans. All of these cases will be interesting to follow over the coming months and undoubtedly, more inspiring examples of communities fighting to protect our oceans will be added to the list.

By Neve McCracken-Heywood