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'Wrong kind of rubbish' in recycling costs reporter another £350

A journalist fined for putting a bag of mixed recyclable waste out on the pavement has had his appeal against conviction binned by a city judge.

The judge, sitting with magistrates, said he was sure the reporter had put paper in a bag with cans and bottles left outside his home for recycling.

South Wales Evening Post sports reporter Michael Reeves, (28), was one of the first in the UK to be convicted of such an offence.

He was hit with a £200 penalty last October for breaching the Environmental Protection Act.

Judge Gerald Price QC turned down his appeal and ordered him to pay an additional £350 in costs to Swansea Council who brought the original prosecution.

Council rules require that materials should not be mixed in green recycling bags, although Reeves said he had never received any recycling educational literature or even information about when to put his waste out.

He said afterwards: “I firmly believe this has set back recycling in Swansea.

“If the decision had gone my way, perhaps that would have helped the council to reassess its waste management policy which would help encourage residents in all areas of Swansea, and not just the more affluent areas, to recycle.”

A council spokesman said: “We would like to reassure residents that prosecutions of this kind are very rare. They are pursued only as a last resort and after very careful consideration of the facts in each individual case.” Do you have a story about the regional press?
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