Piles of rubbish dumped across Glasgow’s streets has been described as a “nightmare before Christmas” for workers trying to tidy the city for the holidays.
Videos shared exclusively with the Local Democracy Reporting service show overflowing bins, black bin bags and plastic carrier bags left on the side of the road and litter strewn across the back courts of old tenement buildings.
The videos taken by GMB members highlight the issues workers are facing in Govan this Christmas as well as the rest of the city.
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Convenor Chris Mitchell is urging the public to be patient with the city council’s cleansing service as they enter the busiest part of the festive period.
Chris Mitchell said: “It is the week before Christmas and there’s not a soul in sight apart from the rats eating the rubbish left on the streets.
“We are leading up to one of the busiest periods of the year for us which means the amount of rubbish which needs to be collected increases. It really is a nightmare before Christmas.
“Every resource is being put into the service to try and clear the streets which is extremely difficult. We are trying to get as much employment into the city centre as we can full time but this is going to be a busy period for us.
“We will struggle but we need the public to be patient for us as we will get there as fast as we can. I understand the council has made a commitment to tidy and empty all the bins by January 24 but I have my concerns about that as well as it is going to take a lot of effort from our members and I hope people, the councillors and management appreciate it.”
Glasgow City Council says the videos show bins on a public street that are being misused by local businesses and that the rubbish has now been removed. They also confirmed that property owners are responsible for the maintenance of their back courts.
A spokesman said: “The first video shows a domestic waste bin on the street that’s being misused by local businesses.
“The bin was placed on the street due to health and safety concerns faced by our staff when entering the close and backcourt where household bins were originally kept.
“We service the bin on the street every four days, but due to the volume of waste dumped by nearby businesses we have removed the additional waste.
“The second video shows a backcourt which should be investigated by our public health team.
“When staff encounter a backcourt in poor condition they should report this location to their supervisor at the earliest opportunity and appropriate action will be taken.
“Ultimately owners are responsible for the maintenance of their property and we can take enforcement action to ensure back courts are kept properly.”
Concerns have also been raised by the GMB convenor and trade union members about missed collections causing a build up in rubbish when workers take time off for Christmas.
Chris added: “We don’t want a situation where Christmas waste is lying for too long amongst the rubbish that has already been generated. This will create further problems with rats in the city.
“It will be difficult but we have the right to take holidays as well and spend Christmas with our families. We are going to try our best to get the bins cleared as fast as we can.
“We are doing this for the citizens of Glasgow as there is nothing worse than when your bin is overflowing for weeks and weeks at a time.”
“I want to thank the workers for all their hard work throughout the year. We are trying our hardest to clean the streets for the Glasgow public but we are doing it under a lot of pressure and people need to realise that.”
Glasgow City Council confirmed that public holidays over Christmas and New Year do have an impact on bin collections but plans are in place to ensure services return to normal as quickly as possible.
A spokesman added: “Revised dates for kerbside collections are shared with all affected householders and extra resources are brought in to support our teams during the festive period.
“Households do produce extra waste over Christmas and New Year and, with the exception of public holidays, our household waste recycling centres will be open to receive a wide range of waste.
“Householders can also maximise their bin capacity by compacting or compressing their waste as far as possible and dry, mixed recycling can be stored until bin capacity becomes available.
“Residents are also urged to keep service lanes free of parked cars as access issues can prevent collections from going ahead as planned.
“We have well established health and safety procedures to protect staff from infestations and staff should report incidents to their supervisor so the incident can be dealt with appropriately.”
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