A man who joked about recycling as he dumped a fridge off a cliff has earned the ire of Spanish authorities, who ordered him to go down and retrieve it by hand.

Key points: The men in the original video are heard saying "recycling, let's go, recycle it", according to a translation by CNN

The men in the original video are heard saying "recycling, let's go, recycle it", according to a translation by CNN The offender was fined 45,000 euros ($74,277) and ordered to return and collect the fridge

The offender was fined 45,000 euros ($74,277) and ordered to return and collect the fridge In a video posted by police, the man and a companion are seen struggling to retrieve it

In a video posted to local police AUGC Guardia Civil's Twitter account, the unidentified man is seen throwing the fridge over a guard rail into a ravine in Almeria, in the country's south-east, before returning to his van.

Both the person recording the video and the man in question, who are speaking Spanish, are heard saying "recycling, let's go, recycle it" and "let's see how many flips it can do", according to CNN.

The offender, who was ultimately identified by police, was fined 45,000 euros ($74,277) and ordered to return to the scene, collect the fridge to dispose of it correctly, AUGC Guardia Civil tweeted.

The man and a companion were filmed dragging the fridge back up the cliff. ( Twitter: AUGC Guardia Civil )

In a follow up video posted by police, the man and a companion are seen struggling to haul the appliance back up the cliff.

A spokesperson for the civil guard told CNN a court would now decide whether the man would face further fines for "environmental crime".

Following the investigation, police said a waste management company that employed the man would also face sanctions because it too had failed to properly dispose of old refrigerators.