미세플라스틱의 저감 및 관리를 위한 입법적 연구

초록

Recently, as negative influences of microplastic pollution have been scientifically verified, the public have called for the government to arrange countermeasures. Furthermore, legislative efforts to mitigate microplastic pollution are being observed around the world with foreign countries, especially the EU membership, trying to place it on pending issues of international environmental politics and to tighten regulations. In particular, the EU intends to arrange legislation focused solely on microplastics, and the UN, in March 2022, announced its plan for an international agreement on plastic and microplastics. Taking these into consideration, international cooperation to respond to microplastic pollution is expected to be further emphasized. Despite this encouraging atmosphere, Korea's current legal system is not effective in dealing with microplastic pollution. Above all, the relevant regulations lack consistency and unity because they are sporadically legislated in a few areas where microplastics are known to be problematic. At the same time, their effectiveness is also suspected because only a few of the primary microplastics are regulated and the method of legislation is too much centered to regulation on conduct. This paper aims to solve this crux of our current legal system and come up with legislative measures to effectively regulate microplastics in an integrated and comprehensive manner. Therefore, this paper first outlines the seriousness of microplastics pollution by reviewing the concept and type of microplastics, current status of its emission, and its impact on the environment and human body, and then the examination on domestic legislative approaches follows. Furthermore, focusing on legislation and policies of the European Union, overseas legal measures to cope with the microplastic pollution are reviewed, and institutional implications are drawn from them. Finally, based on the studies above, a bill for reduction and management of microplastics is proposed.

키워드