Waste Sovereignty and Plastic Colonialism: Environmental Power and Populism in the Global Political Economy of Waste
Oludele Mayowa Solaja
Plastic pollution is one of the most pressing environmental problems of the twenty-first century, but the governance of global plastic waste is remarkably unequal. Significant volumes of plastic waste from developed countries are exported to developing countries in the Global South, where waste management infrastructure and regulatory capacity are often limited. While this movement of waste across borders is frequently discussed in terms of recycling efficiency or waste management capacity, these transactions are deeply embedded in unequal power relations within the global political economy. This article proposes a theoretical framework called Waste Sovereignty Theory (WST), which explains how international waste trade reproduces environmental power asymmetries between exporting and importing nations. Drawing on political ecology, environmental justice, postcolonial environmental governance, and emerging scholarship on environmental populism, the paper conceptualizes transboundary plastic waste flows as a form of plastic colonialism in which the ecological costs of production and consumption in wealthy countries are displaced onto less powerful states. The article introduces a Waste Sovereignty Theory Framework (WST Framework) that links four key dynamics—plastic production, transnational waste trade, governance inequality, and sovereignty claims—to explain contemporary struggles over environmental authority in the Global South. Using illustrative cases from Southeast Asia and Africa, the article demonstrates how states and communities respond through waste import bans, stricter regulatory regimes, waste repatriation policies, and the promotion of domestic recycling industries. These responses are interpreted not only as efforts to reclaim environmental governance but also as expressions of environmental populism, whereby affected populations challenge environmental burdens perceived as imposed by distant political, economic, and technocratic elites. Waste sovereignty thus emerges as both a claim to environmental justice and a form of political resistance against unequal structures of global environmental governance. The article argues that addressing the global plastic crisis requires more than technological improvements in waste management; it demands institutional reforms capable of confronting the structural inequalities embedded in contemporary systems of production, consumption, and environmental governance.
Keywords: Waste Sovereignty, Plastic Colonialism, Environmental Populism, Global Waste Trade, Environmental Governance, Political Ecology, Environmental Justice, Circular Economy, Global South
References
Ali, S. H. & Jenkins, M. (2020). “Governing international waste flows: The Basel Convention and environmental governance.” Global Environmental Politics, 20(3), 15–36.
Brooks, A. L.; Wang, S. & Jambeck, J. R. (2018). “The Chinese import ban and its impact on global plastic waste trade.” Science Advances, 4(6), eaat0131. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aat0131
Bullard, R. D. (2000). Dumping in Dixie: Race, class, and environmental quality (3rd ed.). Westview Press.
Clapp, J. (2021). Toxic exports: The transfer of hazardous wastes from rich to poor countries (2nd ed.). Cornell University Press.
Clapp, J. (2022). “The political economy of plastic waste and recycling.” Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 47, 287–310. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-120920-105059
Fidayanti, A. F. (2025). “Sustainable plastic waste management practices and circular economy strategies.” Waste and Sustainable Society, 6(2), 1–12.
Geyer, R.; Jambeck, J. R. & Law, K. L. (2017). “Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made.” Science Advances, 3(7), e1700782. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700782
Gündoğdu, S.; Walker, T. R. & Liboiron, M. (2025). “The global plastics treaty must include strict global controls on plastic waste trade.” Cambridge Prisms: Plastics, 3, 1–9.
Jackson, T. & Rix, D. (1998). “Waste management and environmental policy: Economic instruments and policy integration.” Environmental Politics, 7(1), 1–23.
Liboiron, M. (2021). Pollution is colonialism. Duke University Press.
Liboiron, M.; Zahara, A.; Schoot, I.; Kramm, J.; Liboiron, F. & Zöle, E. (2021). “Equity in author order: A feminist laboratory’s approach.” Catalyst: Feminism, Theory, Technoscience, 7(1).
Martinez-Alier, J. (2002). The environmentalism of the poor: A study of ecological conflicts and valuation. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Nixon, R. (2011). Slow violence and the environmentalism of the poor. Harvard University Press.
O’Neill, K. (2022). “Waste as a global environmental governance problem.” Global Environmental Politics, 22(1), 1–12.
Pellow, D. N. (2018). What is critical environmental justice? Polity Press.
Robbins, P. (2012). Political ecology: A critical introduction (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.
Smakgahn, K. (2025). “Transboundary trade in plastic waste and environmental governance challenges.” Nature Environment and Pollution Technology, 24(1), 1–12.
Swyngedouw, E. (2004). Social power and the urbanization of water: Flows of power. Oxford University Press.
Tehrani, M. (2025). “Governance and innovation in plastic waste management systems.” Journal of Environmental Policy and Governance, 35(2), 1–14.
Tiamiyu, A. (2026). “Grassroots-led democratized plastic governance for planetary health.” Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 17(1), 1–12.
United Nations Environment Programme. (2018). Single-use plastics: A roadmap for sustainability. UNEP.
Van den Beukel, J.; Ruisch, A.; Oosten, M.; De Heer, M. & Wijnen, M. (2021). “Circular economy transitions and waste governance.” Sustainability, 13(8), 4352. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084352
Waste Sovereignty and Plastic Colonialism: Environmental Power and Populism in the Global Political Economy of Waste
Oludele Mayowa Solaja
Plastic pollution is one of the most pressing environmental problems of the twenty-first century, but the governance of global plastic waste is remarkably unequal. Significant volumes of plastic waste from developed countries are exported to developing countries in the Global South, where waste management infrastructure and regulatory capacity are often limited. While this movement of waste across borders is frequently discussed in terms of recycling efficiency or waste management capacity, these transactions are deeply embedded in unequal power relations within the global political economy. This article proposes a theoretical framework called Waste Sovereignty Theory (WST), which explains how international waste trade reproduces environmental power asymmetries between exporting and importing nations. Drawing on political ecology, environmental justice, postcolonial environmental governance, and emerging scholarship on environmental populism, the paper conceptualizes transboundary plastic waste flows as a form of plastic colonialism in which the ecological costs of production and consumption in wealthy countries are displaced onto less powerful states. The article introduces a Waste Sovereignty Theory Framework (WST Framework) that links four key dynamics—plastic production, transnational waste trade, governance inequality, and sovereignty claims—to explain contemporary struggles over environmental authority in the Global South. Using illustrative cases from Southeast Asia and Africa, the article demonstrates how states and communities respond through waste import bans, stricter regulatory regimes, waste repatriation policies, and the promotion of domestic recycling industries. These responses are interpreted not only as efforts to reclaim environmental governance but also as expressions of environmental populism, whereby affected populations challenge environmental burdens perceived as imposed by distant political, economic, and technocratic elites. Waste sovereignty thus emerges as both a claim to environmental justice and a form of political resistance against unequal structures of global environmental governance. The article argues that addressing the global plastic crisis requires more than technological improvements in waste management; it demands institutional reforms capable of confronting the structural inequalities embedded in contemporary systems of production, consumption, and environmental governance.
Keywords: Waste Sovereignty, Plastic Colonialism, Environmental Populism, Global Waste Trade, Environmental Governance, Political Ecology, Environmental Justice, Circular Economy, Global South
References
Ali, S. H. & Jenkins, M. (2020). “Governing international waste flows: The Basel Convention and environmental governance.” Global Environmental Politics, 20(3), 15–36.
Brooks, A. L.; Wang, S. & Jambeck, J. R. (2018). “The Chinese import ban and its impact on global plastic waste trade.” Science Advances, 4(6), eaat0131. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aat0131
Bullard, R. D. (2000). Dumping in Dixie: Race, class, and environmental quality (3rd ed.). Westview Press.
Clapp, J. (2021). Toxic exports: The transfer of hazardous wastes from rich to poor countries (2nd ed.). Cornell University Press.
Clapp, J. (2022). “The political economy of plastic waste and recycling.” Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 47, 287–310. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-120920-105059
Fidayanti, A. F. (2025). “Sustainable plastic waste management practices and circular economy strategies.” Waste and Sustainable Society, 6(2), 1–12.
Geyer, R.; Jambeck, J. R. & Law, K. L. (2017). “Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made.” Science Advances, 3(7), e1700782. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700782
Gündoğdu, S.; Walker, T. R. & Liboiron, M. (2025). “The global plastics treaty must include strict global controls on plastic waste trade.” Cambridge Prisms: Plastics, 3, 1–9.
Jackson, T. & Rix, D. (1998). “Waste management and environmental policy: Economic instruments and policy integration.” Environmental Politics, 7(1), 1–23.
Liboiron, M. (2021). Pollution is colonialism. Duke University Press.
Liboiron, M.; Zahara, A.; Schoot, I.; Kramm, J.; Liboiron, F. & Zöle, E. (2021). “Equity in author order: A feminist laboratory’s approach.” Catalyst: Feminism, Theory, Technoscience, 7(1).
Martinez-Alier, J. (2002). The environmentalism of the poor: A study of ecological conflicts and valuation. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Nixon, R. (2011). Slow violence and the environmentalism of the poor. Harvard University Press.
O’Neill, K. (2022). “Waste as a global environmental governance problem.” Global Environmental Politics, 22(1), 1–12.
Pellow, D. N. (2018). What is critical environmental justice? Polity Press.
Robbins, P. (2012). Political ecology: A critical introduction (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.
Smakgahn, K. (2025). “Transboundary trade in plastic waste and environmental governance challenges.” Nature Environment and Pollution Technology, 24(1), 1–12.
Swyngedouw, E. (2004). Social power and the urbanization of water: Flows of power. Oxford University Press.
Tehrani, M. (2025). “Governance and innovation in plastic waste management systems.” Journal of Environmental Policy and Governance, 35(2), 1–14.
Tiamiyu, A. (2026). “Grassroots-led democratized plastic governance for planetary health.” Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 17(1), 1–12.
United Nations Environment Programme. (2018). Single-use plastics: A roadmap for sustainability. UNEP.
Van den Beukel, J.; Ruisch, A.; Oosten, M.; De Heer, M. & Wijnen, M. (2021). “Circular economy transitions and waste governance.” Sustainability, 13(8), 4352. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084352