Sri Lanka fishers still affected by 2021 plastic spill
The gist
Sri Lankan fishers are still reeling from the 2021 X-Press Pearl toxic plastic spill, with compensation payments delayed.
The sinking caused the largest plastic spill ever recorded, and the damage lingers.
How it unfolded
- May 19, 2021The X-Press Pearl entered Sri Lankan waters with a nitric acid container that had been leaking about a litre an hour for at least eight days, after the crew was denied permission to unload it in Qatar and India.
- 2021The ship's sinking caused the largest plastic spill ever recorded, with billions of plastic nurdles plus engine fuel, acid, caustic soda, lead, copper slag, lithium batteries and epoxy resin washing up.
- Aug 2025Sri Lanka's Supreme Court ordered the ship's owners to pay $1 billion in compensation, applying the polluter pays principle.
Key terms
- nurdles
- Tiny plastic pellets used as raw material in the plastics industry to manufacture plastic products.
- polluter pays principle
- Environmental law principle making the party responsible for pollution pay for environmental damage and prevention costs.
Source: Wikipedia