Malawi’s long-running thin-plastics dispute has taken a fresh turn after the High Court granted Qingdao Recycling Limited a stay that temporarily blocks the Malawi Environmental Protection Authority from enforcing the ban while judicial review proceedings continue.
The order revives questions around the 2015 plastics regulations and the legal basis for enforcement.
Qingdao Recycling, through lawyer John Chisomo Kalampa, is arguing that government cannot enforce the ban until an Environmental Tribunal is established. The company is also contending that the restriction violates the economic rights of businesses that produce and sell thin plastics.
Attorney General Frank Mbeta, however, maintained that the absence of an Environmental Tribunal does not stop MEPA from enforcing the ban.
Despite that argument, High Court Judge Allan Hans Muhome granted a stay on enforcement and allowed the judicial review application to proceed.
The dispute sits within a legal framework that has been in place since 2015. The Environment Management (Plastics) Regulations prohibit the importation, manufacture, trade and commercial distribution of plastic film thinner than 60 micrometres, and the trade portal summary of the rules says offenders face a three-month prison term on conviction.
Those regulations were introduced as part of Malawi’s response to plastic pollution. A UNEP-backed report says the policy was meant to curb indiscriminate disposal and push the market toward alternatives such as paper, cloth, sisal, hessian and thicker biodegradable materials.
Environmental advocates had hailed earlier court backing for the ban. Jonny Vaughan of Lilongwe Wildlife Trust said after a previous ruling: “Today’s judgement is a fantastic victory for everyone who wants to see a cleaner, healthier, and prosperous Malawi.
In July 2024, the High Court in Lilongwe granted 11 plastic manufacturers, including Qingdao Recycling, permission to seek judicial review and stopped MEPA from enforcing the ban.
The legal pendulum swung again in January 2025, when the High Court dismissed the manufacturers’ judicial review application and discharged the injunction that had been blocking enforcement.
The Environmental Affairs Department then moved to start confiscating thin plastics in line with the court ruling.
The broader background also includes a Supreme Court of Appeal decision in the Aero Plastic Industries matter, which upheld the legality of the thin-plastics regulations.
