Spanish police order man who threw fridge off cliff to drag it back up – video Spain Man caught fly-tipping fridge in ravine fined and made to drag it back Footage shows the man tipping the fridge down ravine in Valle de Almanzora Stephen Burgen in Barcelona Tue 6 Aug 2019 13.32 BST Share on Facebook

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A man who was caught on film fly-tipping a fridge down a ravine in southern Spain has been fined and forced to drag it back up after being identified by police.

The video went viral after the man, who works for a company that recycles domestic electronic equipment in Olula del Río in Almería was seen tipping the fridge in the Valle de Almanzora. In the video, the man and his companion who filmed the incident can be heard joking, “recycling, let’s go, let’s see how many flips it can do”.

He was identified by the civil guard police who ordered him to haul the fridge back up and recycle it in a proper manner. The police filmed the retrieval which was also posted online.

The offender was fined €45,000 (£41,000) and sacked from his job at the waste management firm which also faces possible sanctions of up to €300,000. Another video has emerged of him disposing of a washing machine in a similar manner.

When police carried out an inspection of the firm they found 50 washing machines left outside as well as 20 fridges. There was no container for disposing of the goods. The owners were unable to provide evidence that over the last 10 years they had been delivering the waste white goods to a company authorised to recycle them.

Sergio López, a civil guard officer, said the 24-year-old man was “actively cooperating” with police and remorseful over his action.

“I really regret what I’ve done because it’s meant I’ve lost my job and has aggravated the problems I have with anxiety,” he told the online news site El Español.

“All I want now is for this to go away and the effect it’s having on my family, my girlfriend and me. I don’t want people to have this image of me, as though I were a murderer.”

Fridges contain gases that can cause serious environmental damage and are among the most toxic white goods if not disposed of correctly, along with freezers and air conditioning units.