Greengrocer fined for composting his vegetables

A Workington fruit and veg shopkeeper has been fined £300 for dumping his rotting vegetables on a compost heap.

Colin Glaister, owner of the Fruit and Veg shop on Oxford Street, was fined by Allerdale Borough Council after he failed to produce a notice stating how he gets rid of his waste.

He was told it was illegal for him to put his vegetables on a compost heap and cardboard on a household recycling site without a waste transfer note.



By law, the notice has to be produced by a business whenever trade waste is transferred from a business premises to a registered waste carrier or waste disposal operator.

Mr Glaister said: “The council said it was because the waste had not been disposed of properly. I said; ‘it’s all recycled’. How do you get fined for recycling your rubbish? They told me I was breaking the law and that I was supposed to hire a bin off the council. They will empty the bins once a fortnight. That will cost me about £5 a time.”

An Allerdale Council spokeswoman said under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 business owners must show how they dispose of their waste. If they fail to do this they will be issued with a fixed penalty notice. She said that workers at the shop were warned three times before the fine was dished out.

There's a news video here.