Recycling centres stay shut
United front not enough for change
Recycling centres in South Lanarkshire will remain closed until they can be “safely reopened”.
That’s despite councillors in South Lanarkshire banding together in a bid to see the centres re-opened.
All six of the council’s recycling centres – five of which are operator by waste management firm Viridor – have been closed for a number of weeks following restrictions brought in to help stop the spread of coronavius.
A number of English councils have reopened recycling centres amid a rise in fly-tipping but the Scottish Government still considers journeys to dispose of excess waste as unessential.
In North Lanarkshire, more than 2300 people have signed a petition demanding that the council opens up recycling centres there.
South Lanarkshire Council were unable to confirm if there had been any change to reported levels of fly-tipping since the UKwide lockdown was brought in to slow the spread of the virus, but they have redoubled efforts to encourage people not to break the law.
Alistair McKinnon, head of facilities, waste and grounds services, said the council was “listening to the advice from the UK and Scottish governments” before making a decision on them reopening.
He added: “It is not just anti-social, but also criminal, to fly-tip. Anyone caught doing so will face a substantial fine.”
“We have been able to maintain our kerbside bin collections so people should make best use of those, and store any larger or excess waste until such times as we are able to safely re-open our recycling centres.
“The message is very simple – don’t make your rubbish your neighbours’ problem.”
Labour councillors including Monique McAdams and Mo Razzaq, as well as Liberal Democrat deputy leader Mark McGeever, took to Facebook to voice their concerns, while Conservative councillor Graeme Campbell has written to Scottish secretary Alister Jack.
Councillor Robert Brown this week urged the council to revisit their decision to keep sites closed.
The Lanarkshire Liberal Democrats leader said there was an increasing need for centres to reopen, and suggested this could happen with an appointment system in place to help ensure distancing could be followed.
Councillor Campbell, who also wrote to Conservative party leader Jackson Carlaw, added: “The Prime Minister last week provided English local authorities with their own local decision-making powers to reopen with special measures in place, to protect employees and the public.
“I’ve no idea whether this will work or not, and I continue to get more frustrated by the day as the Scottish government makes slight tweaks to their emergency COVID-19 laws, taking us further away from national policy.
“With B&Q now open and English recycling centres beginning to re-open: now is not the time to take Scotland on a different journey.”