Malawi Environment Protection Authority (Mepa) says there is no grace period for the implementation of thin plastics ban and has warned plastic manufacturers and traders to comply or risk fines.
Speaking in an interview on Wednesday, Mepa director general Wilfred Kadewa said there is no need for the authority to wait before implementing the ban on production, importation, sale and use of thin plastics with 60 microns because it was already gazetted and people are well-informed.
He said: “As it is, the ban is already in force and our inspectors will be on the lookout. Where manufacturing continues, there is provision to confiscate both the machines and the materials that have been produced.”
Kadewa advised manufacturers to switch to production of biodegradable carrier bags or thick plastics that are compliant with the law and do not harm the environment.
On January 31 2025, the High Court of Malawi in Lilongwe discharged an injunction which 11 thin plastic manufacturers obtained last July stopping the government from enforcing a ban.
In June 2024 when thin plastics manufacturer Golden Plastics Limited withdrew its appeal filed in the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal against enforcement of the plastics ban, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change designated July 8 2024 as the date of commencement of enforcement of the ban.
Meanwhile, environmental activist Herbert Mwalukomo has welcomed the move by Mepa to start enforcing the law immediately after the court relief this time.
The Centre for Environmental Policy and Advocacy executive director said activists want to see authorities taking manufacturers to task for non-compliance.
“As a country, we should now be shifting away from plastics altogether and towards environment-friendly materials,” he said.
Government initially banned the manufacturing, distribution, sale, exportation and importation of thin plastic bags of less than 60 microns in 2015.
Since then, a series of court orders obtained by plastic manufacturers stopped Mepa from enforcing the ban.
Golden Plastics Limited obtained one of the orders in July 2011, but after Mepa applied to have the stay order vacated, hearing of the application was adjourned several times before Chief Justice Rizine Mzikamanda discharged the stay order in June 2024.
But on July 9, the 11 plastic manufacturers were granted an injunction and permission to apply for judicial review of the Environmental Management (Plastics) Regulations of 2015.
A 2019 study by the United Nation Development Programme estimated that Malawi produces 75 000 tonnes of plastic per year, of which 80 percent is reportedly single-use plastic.
