The three main fruit and vegetable wholesale markets in London have joined forces to introduce hefty fines for dumping produce on their sites - and have adopted the slogan “don’t dump on us”.
New Covent Garden, New Spitalfields and Western International markets are set to tackle the problem - caused by the mounting cost of landfill sites - with a £500 penalty.
But this will be reduced to between £50-£70 if the produce is taken directly to the market recycling compound.
The money generated will help fund a research project to look at ways of improving waste management at the three markets, according to the market authorities.
Jan Lloyd, chief executive of the New Covent Garden Market Authority, said: “We are keen to raise the quality perception of the produce available - not only is there a much wider range of produce available than in the supermarkets, but it is of increasingly high quality, as demands from foodservice continue to raise standards.
“Large-scale dumping of poor-grade produce is a thing of the past and we want to keep it that way.”
Bob Marlow, general manager Western International market, added: “We have been operating this system for a few months and there has been a marked reduction of product dumped.
“We know that charges and green taxes for waste are going to increase so we need to take action now to help keep the financial burden on our tenants to a minimum.”
The three markets have also formed a joint working group to look at other initiatives that could reduce costs and increase recycling.
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