Popular Hackney food business fined nearly £20,000 for being caught fly-tipping waste ‘nine times’
The owner of a popular Hackney restaurant has been fined nearly £20,000 after being caught fly-tipping their waste ‘on nine separate occasions’.
According to Hackney Council, Facing Heaven, a vegan Chinese eatery off Mare Street, ignored a warning issued after the first offence was committed in January 2023.
Fly-tipping is the illegal dumping of waste and a criminal offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
By disposing of their waste in this way the business not only saved thousands of pounds in disposal costs, but it also passed those costs directly onto the council, in turn costing taxpayers.
The case was heard at Thames Magistrates’ Court on 22 April and the business owner was prosecuted for fly-tipping on nine separate occasions whilst failing to have proper waste disposal measures in place.
As a result of the decision, the operator was ordered to pay £19,400, including £16,500 in fines, plus the full legal costs of £900 and the maximum victim surcharge of £2,000.
The judge concluded that the business owner knowingly committed the offences, given they had been issued with a duty of waste disposal notice by Hackney Council back in 2023 and continued to fly-tip up until October 2024.
Cllr Sarah Young, Cabinet member for Climate Change, Environment and Transport said: “Our waste teams work hard to keep Hackney's streets clean and we offer a really good range of waste and recycling services to residents and businesses. Many residents voluntarily help to keep their neighbourhoods clean and tidy too.
"Selfish actions from an irresponsible local business are an insult to all of our efforts – they force local council tax payers to pick up the bill for removing waste that has been dumped illegally at a time when budgets are severely stretched. We only move to enforcement where residents or businesses fail to work with us and deliberately dump rubbish and then we will take action.
"We welcome the significant fine issued to this business, which will act as a deterrent to everyone about the severe consequences if they fail to dispose of their waste properly and responsibly."