The plastic pollution crisis: constructing solutions in multilevel policy making

• Main Author: Vince, JZ
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: . 2019
• Subjects: Studies in Human Society; Policy and Administration; Public Policy; Arctic; Willis; Human health
• Online Access: http://ecite.utas.edu.au/137741

Marine plastic pollution is a complex problem needing urgent attention as it reaches a crisis point(Vince and Stoett 2018). Plastics have been found in the most remote parts of the worlds oceansincluding the Arctic and Southern Oceans and in the great depths of the Mariana Trench. Plasticbioaccumulates in filter-feeding marine delicacies such as shrimp, scallops, mussels and seacucumbers and the impact on human health and food security is an increasing concern (Ivar do Suland Costa 2014; Stoett and Vince 2019). It is predicted that by the year 2050 that the worlds plasticproduction will quadruple if current activities around plastic use continue (World Economic Forum etal. 2016). While this is a global problem that requires global solutions, 80% of the plastic found in themarine environment is sourced from the land and which is the jurisdiction of nation states and theirstate/provincial and local governments. Holistic, integrated, whole of life cycle policies, and acombination of approaches that include regulatory, societal and industry involvement are essentialin addressing this complex issue (Vince and Stoett 2018; Stoett and Vince 2019; Vince and Hardesty2016; Vince and Hardesty 2018; Haward 2018; Willis et al. 2018). The response to this crisis hasresulted in urgent calls for action on a global scale (Haward 2018; Raubenheimer and McIlgorm2018). However, in multilevel governance settings on regional and national scales the responseshave been varied and ad hoc. Using the European Union (EU) and Australia as case studies, thispaper will analyse how the urgency of the plastic pollution crisis has shaped multilevel policyresponses and how new governance problems that have emerged from these responses (Maggettiand Trein 2019) are being addressed. It will also examine the use of placebo policies (McConnell2018) at different levels of governance that are impacting the way other levels are able to addressthe crisis.