Former Roth International chief sentenced for illegal waste exports to Czechia

In a ruling by the Bavarian court in Weiden, the former managing director of Roth International was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for coordinating 30 unauthorized waste shipments to the Czech Republic and Poland beginning in 2024. The court also sentenced a 57-year-old Czech truck driver, who acted as a liaison for the transports, to a suspended two-year term. Investigators identified roughly 760 tons of waste—including fiberglass, carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic and battery debris—found in Jiříkov and the Horní Heršpice district of Brno.

German officials arranged for the waste to be cleared, removing several hundred tons across multiple operations in 2025 and early 2026. Roth International, insolvent since March 2025, faces attempts by Bavarian authorities to recover the cleanup costs. The verdict remains subject to appeal, and a separate health-damage allegation against the former director was dropped during the trial.