The Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate Court has convicted the owner of Qingdao Manufacturing Company after pleading guilty to the offense of producing banned thin plastics.

The owner of the company, a Chinese national committed the offense in March this year despite government putting a ban on the production of thin plastics in the country.

The offense contravenes with the Environmental Management Act of 2017 and Plastics Regulation of 2015 and it attracts 3 months custodial sentence the court may also decide to confiscate equipment related to the case.

Appearing before Chief Resident Magistrate Violet Chipao, the suspect pleaded guilty to the offense and was since convicted, the ruling has been served for August 27 this year.

This comes barely a week after the Malawi police service raided the company in the capital Lilongwe, after continuing with the production of thin plastics despite their case being in the court of law, a development which was described as insubordination by various environmental stakeholders.

Government has been fighting against the production and use of thin plastics in the country since 2015 as a means to protect and conserve the environment.