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First Comes the Microplastic, Then Comes the Smuggling: Microplastics as a Vector for Transnational Green Crime
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This article argues that tiny plastic particles called microplastics may help criminal groups smuggle illegal goods through international plastic waste and recycling systems. Using legal analysis and criminology theories, the authors propose a new risk assessment tool and conclude that current international agreements are not equipped to address this problem.
Microplastics - particles of synthetic polymers that are five millimetres in size or less - are widely acknowledged as ubiquitous environmental pollutants with great ecological and human health impacts. However, their possible role of facilitating transnational illicit activity is underexplored. This article submits that microplastics act not only as environmental harm agents, but also as enablers for the transnational smuggling, especially in international plastics waste and recycling supply chains. Drawing on green criminology, Routine Activity Theory and Global Commodity Chain Analysis, the study shows that the material properties of microplastics along with fragmented regulatory structures and lack of capacity for detection create structural opportunities for organised crime. Through doctrinal legal analysis and synthesis of the documented enforcement cases, the article conceptualises “microplastic-facilitated smuggling” as a hybrid green crime that generates ecological degradation and conventional criminal profits in tandem with one another. To operationalise this insight, the paper proposes the Microplastic Crime Risk Assessment Model (MP-CRAM), which is a preventive enforcement model intended to identify high-risk consignments and regulatory blind spots. A conclusion drawn from this article is that current international regimes such as the Basel Convention and UNTOC continue to be ill equipped to deal with this convergence and that targeted legal and policy changes based on the principles of environmental justice are required.
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Researchers argue that current policies pushing for more plastic recycling may actually increase microplastic pollution, because degraded recyclate is used in more products and applications where it breaks down more easily. They propose a risk framework for evaluating how recycled plastics shed microplastics throughout their lifecycle — from production to disposal — and flag textiles and wood-plastic composites as high-concern areas.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.