THE man guilty of illegally shipping household waste from Swindon to Brazil has been ordered to pay more than £700,000 this week.

Julio Cesar Rando da Costa, 49, who owned Worldwide Biorecyclables based in South Marston, was handed the fine after his company shipped the waste, including syringes, used nappies, condoms and toilet seat covers, to his native country last year.

The amount was to cover Brazilian fines and costs in returning the 91 containers of rubbish to Britain incurred by the transport firm Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).

The containers, improperly labelled as plastic for recycling, were discovered in Brazilian ports by environmental inspectors in July 2009.

Their contents violated the terms of a 1991 Basel Convention prohibiting the transport of certain waste.

MSC, which was contracted to ship the containers to Brazil, was made to return them to Britain and fined $225,000 (£144,000) by Brazilian authorities.

The company then lodged the commercial lawsuit in Britain against da Costa, to recover its £731,615 in transport costs and fines.

The order to pay was made in the High Court in London this week.

Da Costa has said his company, which employed eight people from Swindon, no longer existed.

“Today I deliver pizzas and earn £900 a month,” he said.

He said he intended to appeal the fine and was seeking legal aid to do so.

The case has sparked official indignation in Brazil, with the government saying it should not be a dump for wealthier countries.

The Environment Agency, who were heavily involved in the case against da Costa, was unable to comment on these civil proceedings because they are currently working on their own prosecution against him.