Legislative lessons for plastic waste governance: a doctrinal analysis of German and Rwandan models for Sri Lankan statutory reform

Abstract

Sri Lanka’s inefficient legal framework on Post-Consumer Plastic Packaging (PCPP) waste creates environmental pollution and regulatory drawbacks as exemplified in other developing nations. This research was carried out based on doctrinal and comparative legal methodologies, analysing statutes, case law and constitutional mechanism through descriptive comparative analysis, aiming to identify gaps that exist in Sri Lanka’s plastic waste regime and to propose legal reforms for Sri Lankan plastic governance mechanism. The comparative analysis indicates that Sri Lanka’s legislation does not adequately address critical regulatory issues like life cycle of single-use plastic (SUPs) and EPR, leading to accountability loopholes. The research compares Sri Lanka against two significant jurisprudential models, from the jurisdiction of Rwanda’s a command-and-control regime (Law No. 48/2018), which enforces strict liability, severe financial penalties, and most importantly, a constitutionally justiciable right to a clean environment (Article. 49) and from the jurisdiction of Germany a market-instrumental approach under the Verpackungsgesetz (Packaging Act), which is rooted with the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) through the Polluter Pays Principle and subsidiarity-driven cooperation between industry and municipal authorities. The research employed a novel Global South legislative model by proposing realistic legislative reforms with the institutional and economic realities of developing nations, offering a realistic and practical move toward efficient and effective PCPP governance.