Plastic Waste Management to Overcoming Environmental Pollution: Comparative Study Between Indonesia and Nigeria

¹ Faculty of Law, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, 55183, Bantul, Indonesia
² Faculty of Law, Universitas Siber Muhammadiyah, Yogyakarta, 55253, Indonesia
³ The Northside Chambers, Abuja, Nigeria

^* Corresponding author: yeniwidowaty@umy.ac.id

Abstract

Plastic waste has become a persistent environmental and legal problem in Indonesia, yet existing law enforcement remains largely punitive and ineffective. While Indonesia has comprehensive regulations on waste management, sanctions for plastic waste dumping remain fine-based and fail to deter violations, revealing a gap between regulatory design and behavioural compliance. This study examines: (1) the legal mechanism for resolving plastic waste disposal cases under Indonesian positive law, and (2) the prospective model for resolving such cases using a restorative justice approach toward a zero-waste future. Using a normative method with statutory, comparative, and conceptual approaches, this paper compares Indonesia and Nigeria to identify alternative enforcement models. The findings show that although Indonesia has strong legal frameworks, its enforcement relies on adjudication and fines, whereas Nigeria has begun integrating community-based and restorative elements in environmental crime settlement. The comparative analysis highlights the potential for hybridising regulatory enforcement with restorative mechanisms in Indonesia to improve deterrence and environmental recovery. This paper provides a comparative legal perspective on restorative justice in plastic waste management between Indonesia and Nigeria.